True Love Never Has An Ending
by ChayanneBorealis
Summary: Katniss has been living a hard life. She was being tortured by Cato since she was 6 & her father passed away when she was 9. She vowed not to love again. After her father passed away, she moved to Uncle Haymitch's house in New York with Prim. What will happen to her when she thought her past was left behind begins to haunt her again when she started university. Involves Peeta M.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first story written. I am new to this fan-fiction. Pardon me if there is any mistake made throughout the whole process. Also, I am not familiar with the US education system (but I am trying really hard to google on the basic knowledge of the system). Nonetheless, I welcome feedbacks from all the readers (hopefully there is no harsh review).**

**R&R!**

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Chapter one

2001

Katniss POV

My name is Katniss Everdeen. I'm 7 years old. I have always dreaded the moment where I need to walk home after school ends. All I ever wanted from the first day of school was to keep myself from trouble and hang around with a small group of friends. But all the hopes vanished when I crossed path with the blonde boy who has a pair of vicious icy blue eyes in the school hallway one year ago. Since our short encounter, he started to pick on me when I am walking back to my house. Sometimes, he would ask his two friends to join in the "fun" to see me in pain.

*Smacks*

I felt a big blow behind my head and I found myself fell into a puddle of mud.

*Stomps*

I felt a kick on my stomach and another stomp on my left arm. Not long after, I heard laughter from none other than the blonde boy and his two "comrades".

"You are an ugly piece of filthy rat! Ugly wretch!"uttered one of his comrades who have brown hair.

"You are a piece of dirt, and that puddle of mud suits you well since you are such a low life and you don't deserve to be in a school"

Yes, he was right. I am a burden to my family. My family is very poor. My father works as a construction worker and he could barely feed us, let alone school me? I always tell my father that I can find a job to wash dishes instead of going to school which burdens my family. But my father ignores me when I bring that subject. He always reminds me that education is important and promises a bright future. He has always been the supportive father who always tries his very best to provide for the family. I love him so much for that.

*Stomps stomps stomps*

The two boys laughing hysterically and continue to kick the small girl. The girl with the braids covered her ears with her palms and curled herself. She began to sob quietly, hoping that this torment would end soon. They had hit her too much already.

"Let's stop it, boys," the blonde boy smirked after saying that. "Seems like she has gotten enough of beatings for the day, let's save our energy for next time." The two of the comrades nodded and followed him from behind.

As the boys left or so she thought, she pulls herself up and prepares to go home, the blonde came back and gave her another kick, forcing her to fall on the ground again.

"Everdeen, this is not the end, this is STILL the beginning!"

True enough, the boys have never failed to make my life a living hell. Every day, they would be waiting for me to continue the abusive cycle. Every time when I get home, I would quickly run to the shower and tries to clean myself to make sure my family does not notice anything. I would wear long sleeve shirt and pants to cover any bruises. I know this is stupid, I should have just report this to my teachers, principal, parents and what not but I can't because the blonde boy is Cato Ludwig, whose father is my father's employer. Ratting him out means my father would be out of job. So my act was just to protect my father, that's the very least I could contribute to my family. I thank God that Cato seems not to know that my father is working for his dad because the construction company has a lot of workers. If he ever knows that, he would not hesitate to use that as a threat.

Days go by where the boys would have something different up to their sleeves. Sometimes they would throw stones at me; sometimes they would circle me and try to push me around and tripped me intentionally. There was once Cato went overboard where he took a sharp stick to whack me on my back which left me a permanent scar. I had to lie to everyone and said that I was being clumsy and fell backwards to a piece of sharp wood.

Other than school, I sometimes helped my mother to collect clothes for washing to earn extra income. The income earned was very nominal, but it is always better than nothing. The Mellark has always been very generous. They owned the one and only bakery in the town and their cheese buns are to die for. Every time I dropped by to return the clothes to them, Mr. Mellark would always give me extra money and cheese buns for Prim and I. I refused at first but he has his way of words and managed to convince me to accept his kindness. He has three sons (one who is same age as me). He has a pair of friendly blue eyes which I adore so much. I did not interact a lot with him because he is a very shy person. He would always peek at the corner whenever I dropped by to collect or return clothes to the Mellark.

At school, I managed to keep my distance from Cato. He would not do anything funny at school because there are just too many people around. Sometimes I caught Cato glancing towards my direction. He has the death stare, and if looks can kill, that is definitely a winner. Sometimes I wonder why I am being targeted by him. There was no interaction between both of us other than the first encounter. And that first encounter was something so subtle, I just bumped into him and our eyes met. But ever since that encounter where I begin to acknowledge his existence, he started with his nonsense.

As time goes by, I managed to befriend with Madge Undersee. She is the mayor's daughter. At first I did not take notice because she is very down-to-earth and did not show her wealth to anyone until one day she decided to confess to me about her profile as we grew closer. I was glad that she is my friend. She also knew about Cato and I. She felt sorry for me and even offer to stand by me if I ever want to rat them out. But I nicely declined her offer as I did not want her to get involve. Who knows what Cato would do to her if she gets into the line? But she has been so much help to me; she would bandage me and try to cover up for me whenever she can.

It was fun having Madge around. She is the only one who keeps me sane from all the abuse by the cold-hearted Cato.

2 years later…

It was a fine Monday morning when I was preparing myself for first third grade at school. I saw my father sitting at the counter giggling with my mother while she was preparing breakfast before my school starts. It was a beautiful sight. My father stopped when he saw me at the kitchen door.

"Katniss, you look so beautiful in that red dress. Give me a twirl,"he said as he was smiling widely and holding my hand up high.

I held his hand and begin to twirl. "But dad, I am not beautiful in other people's eyes".

"Katniss Love, you are always beautiful in my eyes and EVERYONE's eyes. Promise me love, no matter what happens, please stay happy and don't let anything to bring you down. A smile a day keeps the heartache away!" as he kissed me on my forehead and whispers further "I love you, Katniss." a mild wind gush my face.

"Okay dad, I promise," I sighed and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Okay Katniss, are you ready for your first day in third grade?"

At school.

Katniss!

I heard someone yelling my name, and the voice was very familiar. I turned around and saw Madge who was running towards me. I let out a big smile on my face and ran to her, meeting her halfway.

"Katniss, oh my god. I miss you so much! How are you? I can't wait to start third grade with you, are we having the same class? Wait let me take my schedule from my bag. Wait, are you okay? Did you enjoy yourself?" Madge was in a frantic mood.

"Madge, calm down! First, I need you to relax. 1 2… 3 breathe in, breathe out. Second, I want to tell you that I miss you so much too. Third, I am fine here, thank you. Next, I am equally excited as you that I can't wait to start school with you again. And, here is my schedule so that you can compare them. I think I have mentioned that I am fine, if that is considered as okay to you and I did enjoy myself being away from the abusive Cato," I finished my sentence with a loud laugh which made Madge laughed too. She knew she was in her frantic mood and glad that I calmed her down every time.

"Whee, we are in the same class for every lesson!" Madge squealed.

"C'mon, let's go," I held her hand and we were practically jumping to our first class.

As I walked into my first class, my jaw dropped. I was shocked to see the familiar pair of blue icy eyes was staring at me.

Cato! He is in my class. Oh god, what a day to start my first day at school. Madge saw the incident and she quickly held my hand and pulled me to the empty seats. Although I am seated at my place, I could feel the glare darting to my back. Everyone was still in the chattering mood until Mr. Beetee came into the class. He introduced himself and started the lesson. As I slowly shifted my attention to the lesson, Madge nudged me.

"What?" I whispered to her.

"That cute blonde has eyes on you," Madge let a small smile and signaling her left eye brow to the boy's direction.

I looked to the direction where she signaled me to, and I was surprised that the boy is one of Mr. Mellark's son. The shy one.

I quickly turned away and I felt my face was heating up a little.

"Are you blushing, Katniss?" Madge whispered.

"What?! No, I am not!" I was a bit too loud until Mr. Beetee stopped his lesson.

"Is there any problem there?" Mr Beetee asked in a stern voice.

"No…" I murmured.

"Madge, you are crazy, he is obviously not eyeing on me. Or is there anything funny on my face? Or my dress?"

"Nah, the only thing that is funny is you don't realize how beautiful you are" Madge winked at me after completing the sentence.

As I was about pull Madge's hair band for making fun of me, I noticed Cato was still looking at me as if I am his prey. God, would this boy leave me alone.

It was dreadful that the second and third class was the same as Cato. I think he must be dying to torture me now since he did not do so during the holidays.

When I was taking down the notes in my fourth lesson, there was an announcement made.

_"Katniss Everdeen, please come to the principal's office at once"_

The announcement was broadcast to the school. Second after the announcement, everyone turned to me. Madge gave me a hug before I leave. A lot of things ran into my mind,

_Was it my outbreak during Mr. Beetee's class that I might get detention? Was it my financial problem which hinders me from attending school anymore_?

Without hesitation, I excused myself from the class and dashed to the principal's room. Before I closed the door, I felt two pairs of blue eyes were looking at me, and to my realization it was Cato's and the Mellark's.

As I was walking to the principal's office, I somehow had a hunch that something was not right already. When I reached the principal's office, Principal Trinkett came to hug me.

"Katniss, please follow me to the car." That's all she said to me.

I was shocked to see Principal Trinkett drove me to the hospital. As I walked into the hospital, my step was frozen when I saw my mother hauling like a mad woman. I did not know what to do till Principal Trinkett ushered me to my mother.

"Mom, what's happening?" I asked her while holding her shoulder. But she does not respond to my question. So, I started to ask her more intent. "Mom, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" But she still ignored me. I looked at Principal Trinkett, giving her the look that I want to know the answer.

"Katniss dear" she sighs. "It's about your father. He had a fatal accident while he was working at the construction site."

I instantly burst into tears. I feel my heart shattered into pieces. I have lost the man of my life.

This can't be happening.

I just saw my father this morning and remember clearly what he told me before he left for work.

_"Katniss Love, you are always beautiful in my eyes and EVERYONE's eyes. Promise me love, no matter what happens, please stay happy and don't let anything to bring you down. A smile a day keeps the heartache away!" as he kissed me on my forehead and whispers further "I love you, Katniss."_

More tears running to my cheek when I remembered the scene. It was still raw in my mind. And I started to question God why He was being so unfair to my life.

Things have changed; my mother has shut down on my sister, Primrose and me since my father's death. She was in her own world and could not bring herself to provide for us. From that day onwards, I vowed that I would never fall in love as I witnessed how love could break someone apart.

After my father's sudden death, my family received settlement sum from the construction company which is enough to cover the cost of the funeral. I did not shed a tear during the funeral. Prim was too young to understand the pain and my mother, she was hauling as usual. Before I threw the earth from my hand to the coffin, I felt a mild air gush my face. It was just like that morning before his death when he told me he loves me. It felt like he was reminding me of his words to me on that faithful morning. I couldn't help it but let a small smile on my face.

My uncle, Uncle Haymitch came to the rescue to offer to take care of both Prim and I as my mother is not fit to take care of the minor.

As soon as the funeral ends, Prim and I left our home in Texas to New York to stay with Uncle Haymitch. Before we left, I bid my goodbye to Madge and we promised to keep contact with each other. I hugged her as if this would be my last hug to her. She was bawling when I let go of her but I did not shed a tear. Somehow, I felt numbness in my heart after my father's passing.

I was sad that I have to leave the house which was filled with the memories of my once a happy family. I was also sad that I am leaving Madge behind. And an inch of my sadness was also due to leaving Mellark's boy. I would never be able to know his name. However, deep down I was relief…

… relief that I would be able to close my chapter in Texas to start anew in New York

… relief that I would be having a brighter future in New York

and most important…

… relief that I do not need to deal with **Cato** and his comrades any more

But one thing I would never forget is the permanent scar given by him which will haunt me for a very long time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for not updating as quickly as I thought it will be. I've been caught up with my work. Deadline has been carried forward and was rushing for it. I was glad that I managed to compose this chapter when I was feeling stress about my work. What a stress-reliever. But pardon me if I make any mistakes.**

**Also, thank you very much for the feedbacks. I will try to improve my writing skills and will be careful on the details of the story. This really motivate me to proof-read my story over and over to produce a better chapter. So, please feel free to drop me more feedbacks as they will definitely assist me to compose a better story. Also, without feedback, it will not drive me to compose the next chapter in the nearest possible time because I am actually still rushing for my work.**

**Please enjoy! R&R!**

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Chapter 2

Katniss POV

Ring!

Snooze~~

One minute later…

Ring!

"Katniss, wakie wakie, it's your first day of college," Prim was giggling while jumping up and down on my bed.

"Prim! Okay, okay, stop it, I am awake already, geez," I was always in groggy mood in the morning.

I lazily got up from the bed to get myself ready. I tied my hair in my signature diagonal Dutch braid which is extremely simple as compared to French braid. I have always been tying my hair in that braid since forever. I slipped into a lyrca white tank top and my favorite Blue Drama Modern Rise Demi Curve Bootcut Skinny jeans (as I am pretty curvy at the bottom but with a small waist-line).

Prim was watching me closely from behind while I was getting ready and gave a mischievous grin.

"Prim, what are you smiling about? What are you up to now?"

"Are you really just going to wear that on your first day of college?" Prim raised her eye brow that indicated a disapproving look.

Well, it's true. I have never been the type of girl who cares so much about fashion. I just love to slip into something comfortable and fairly presentable. Plus, I am only going there for studies and not to flaunt my body. Unlike other girls whom I observed during my whole high school years, they love to wear tight panel mini skirt and deep v-neck low cut top to flaunt their chest and bottom. Sometimes I wonder how they can be ever feeling comfortable in such skimpy outfit.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Prim was practically giggling while hiding something behind her back.

I shook my head and grab Prim's hand to head downstairs for a hearty breakfast.

"Wait! I got something for you," Prim handed me a paper bag.

I opened the bag and to my surprise it was a classic wool blended cardigan… and it is my favorite colour, forest green! I was so happy because I could not wear my older cardigans as I have grown so much where my chest has "evolved" to a full size 36C cup. And here my little sister being so thoughtful, presenting the greatest first day of college gift.

"Awww, thanks Little Duck," I hugged her.

"Quack!" Prim ran downstairs for breakfast. I slipped into the cardigan and followed Prim's direction.

"Morning, sweetheart. Ready for your first day?" Uncle Haymitch greeted me with a warm smile. He was sitting in the dining table with the breakfast on the table.

"Yes, Uncle. I am more than ready, thanks to Prim's gift," I winked at Prim.

I was delighted to see what was on my breakfast plate. It had two German pork sausages, baked beans and two sunny sides up eggs. This is definitely one of my best mornings. I let out a satisfying burp and ended my breakfast with a cup of black coffee. Mmmm, heaven.

I always love black coffee as it reminds me of my home. Back when my father was still alive, we would have black coffee for breakfast as we could not afford to use sugar just for coffee. We always save the sugar for Prim as she has a sweet tooth. From then onwards, I developed to acquire the taste of bitterness from the black coffee.

"Okay, Katniss, let's go or you will be late! And oh yeah, before that, there is something for you on the couch," Uncle Haymitch was already heading to the door with his car key.

Another gift?! God, I am really not used to this. First, it was Prim and now Uncle Haymitch?

I went to the couch in the living area and was shocked to see Mulberry brand name on the paper bag. Although I am not a girl who is fond of fashion, Prim will always be updating me as she loves fashion. When I open the paper bag, I saw a tan bag.

"Oh my god, Katniss! That is an Alexa Mulberry bag!" squealed Prim.

It was a really nice bag indeed. It has perfect slouchy style with a classic shape and top flap of the iconic Bayswater. It was also accentuated with pale gold hardware and added with a detachable shoulder strap which is definitely a winner as I can sling the bag around. But, the bag is still not cheap for me to accept easily.

"Uncle Haymitch, this is just too expensive for a gift. You know that I don't like to have branded goods on myself," I looked at Uncle Haymitch while he was starting the car engine.

"Look, sweetheart. Take it as your graduation gift from high school. You have worked hard and earned a scholarship in college which I am very proud of. So take this as a token," Uncle Haymitch smiled and gave me a hug.

"No, Uncle, this is still too much. I really can't accept it. Plus, I already have a backpack with me since high school and I am happy with that"

Uncle Haymitch shook his head, knowing that I was just too stubborn to oblige his words.

"So, what can I do to make you accept that gift?" he asked me with the pretentious puppy eyes look.

"Can I pay for the bag? But I have to pay in installments from my part-time money"

"No! Then this is not considered as a gift. How can I let you pay?"

"Well, I will just need to return the bag to the store" I gave an evil grin to him.

"Fine! You can pay, but only half of it? Please?" Uncle Haymitch gave me a sad look.

"Deal!"

I could hear Prim was laughing out loud during the process of our so-called heated debate. Everyone knows my stubbornness too well. No one can win Katniss Everdeen when it comes to argument.

"Katniss, just take the bag and transfer all your things from that ugly backpack of yours to your new bag!" Prim shouted from the dining table and continued to eat her breakfast.

I smiled at her remark and followed her instruction. I blew a kiss goodbye to Prim and went into Uncle Haymitch's Toyota Prius for college. He has always been an eco-friendly guy judging that he owns an architecture business which designs eco-friendly buildings. In the car, I was just looking at the window, observing the hustle bustle of New York's city life. It was a long drive to Capitol University (yes that is the name of my university) and I wonder that this journey will be tiring for Uncle Haymitch in the long run.

"Urm, Uncle?"

"Yes, Katniss?"

"I was just wondering, since I have a scholarship, I think I may just opt to stay in the campus. It will be more convenient for me and you do not need to drive me everyday."

"It's okay, sweetheart. You do know that I am very flexible with my timing."

"But it is still a long journey and we will always get stuck in the traffic jam. It is a win-win situation, you will cut your time and I don't need to wake up so early to get myself ready!" I nudged his shoulder while giving that suggestion.

I looked at him and saw that he was having a deep thought in his mind.

"Well, judging from our first debate in the morning, I guess I have no chance of convincing you to my suggestion? So if there is still some availability of room in the campus, I don't see a problem. But you can always come home if you feel uncomfortable," he sighed.

"Wokay!I will check with the administrator and see if there is any room available," I smiled and turned my gaze back to the window while telling myself this will be an awesome day.

Half an hour later…

"Okay, Katniss. I present you Capitol University," Uncle Haymitch was swaying his hand slowly as though he owned the university and welcomed me.

I smiled at his entertaining gesture and gave a peck on his cheek before leaving the car.

"Good luck, sweetheart!"

I smiled and walked to the entrance. When I stepped into the main entrance hall, I saw swarm of students along the hallway. I felt uncomfortable when some of the guys stared at me and some girls gave me a dirty look. What is wrong with them? Do I look really weird with my oh-so-simple outfit? I brushed off the thoughts and continued my walk to the administrator office to register myself.

I reached the office after a few minutes and saw one woman occupying a cubicle. I saw the register signboard and went to her.

"Name?" asked the woman with a red bob hair.

"Katniss Everdeen" I smiled at her.

"Welcome Katniss. I am Portia Rossi. You can address me as Miss Portia."

She was looking through her computer as though she was browsing for my name. Then she headed to the drawer to look for some files.

"Here you go, dear. This is your schedule and introduction kit. The introduction kit will have information on your locker number, map, facilities and the rest you can read on your own. As for the locker, the default number is 1234. You can change the combination lock. Here is the instruction," she smiled while handing me the things.

"Miss Portia, I was wondering whether there is any more room available in the campus. Is it too late for me to submit my application?"

"Oh you are just in luck, dear. One of the students withdrew the application few minutes ago. She called and said she found a place outside the campus. So you can have that room. The room is ready as we were preparing for her to occupy the room. Room number 401. Since you are a scholar, you only need to fill in this form and your room will be covered," Portia was smiling widely while breaking the good news to me.

I filled in the form she handed to me and passed it to her.

"Thank you very much for your help, Miss Portia. I will move my things during the weekend."

I looked at my watch and realized it was 15 minutes before my first class. I would be late if I don't leave anytime now.

"Hey Miss Portia, I will need to excuse myself for class now. I will be late."

"Oh dear, please do so. Go ahead, and have fun in Capitol University!" she ushered me to the door.

I was walking in a fast pace to my first class which is Corporate and Partnership Law. I enrolled in the law double degrees programs which are Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science and Bachelor of Laws. I always love sports especially archery. Ever since high school, I represented my school and excel in so many competitions. Archery has always been my heart and soul where I feel calm when my hands are on the bow and arrow. I was also drawn to athletics because I have the obsession to keep my body at the optimum level of fitness and I love agility sports. As for law, Uncle Haymitch encouraged me to take that program because of my stubborn nature where I love to debate with him. Also, I have an interest to read history books and have the talent to memorize the nitty-gritty details of history.

"Katniss?" a girl's voice calling my name.

I stopped and turned around to see who on earth will be able to recognise me in this university. As far as I know, none of my peers are attending here besides Gale. But it can't be Gale because I heard a girl's voice. My eyes winced around to detect the voice.

"Oh my god, is it you Katniss?" a blonde girl with a peacock feather printed knee-length dress was waving at me.

I couldn't help it but gave a harder look on her face, trying to remember who this girl is. Is she my classmate? Schoolmate? Or someone I met during sport competition? As she approaching me and I got a better look at her face, I was so surprise to realise that she is…

"Madge?"

The blonde girl nod frantically and my eyes just popped into joy and hug her tightly.

"Katniss, _cough cough, _I am suf-focating here" Madge trembled.

"Oops, sorry Madge, I am just so happy and surprised and excited and and and… I just missed you so much," I felt my heart was skipping vigorously as I finally meet her after so many years apart.

"Katniss, I can't believe this, I finally reunite with you. How have you been? I haven't heard from you for so long," Madge cried.

"Sorry Madge, I lost your contact while moving my things and was so devastated. And it's just been such a roller-coaster life for me when I moved in here. I hope you are not mad about that"

"Oh who cares, now I have met you, we will have a lot of catching up to do. What programs are you taking? I am taking Bachelor of Social Science and Bachelor of Laws."

"Oh great! I am taking law too but my other dual degree is sport and exercise science. Are you going to Corporate and Partnership lesson?"

She nods in surprise. "Let's go, Katniss!" She held my hand and walked to the class.

We were giggling all the way to the class. Catching up with one another, poking each other's stomach. Gosh, I missed this girl so much; or rather I missed a female companion so much. Although I have Prim with me but sometimes the age barrier has become a hindrance for certain topics. During high school I have always been spending time with Gale. Gale is one and only friend in high school and has been a tremendous friend. We met through sports session. I was a really quiet girl ever since my father passed away and I did not want to create unnecessary trouble (remember my goal when I was six years old). So I thought keeping to myself would cause me less trouble and promised me peace till I graduated high school. However, Gale was persistent to talk to me and I began to open up to him. We went through thick and thin together, he would talk to me when I remembered my father, or lost any of my competitions and I was there by his side when his father passed away at the age of 16. A lot of people in the high school thought we were dating because they did not believe in platonic relationship. I don't see him as someone I would date because I always see myself as a boy where I would throw fist with him, giving flying high five to him, bro hug, and what not. So he is like my best buddy. Every girl in school was always jealous of me hanging out with him because Gale was an attractive guy.

6 ft 1", dark brown hair, well-built, funny and all the good qualities you want in a guy.

But thankfully none of them did any harm to me because he dated a lot of girls (all lasted not more than a month) and the girls he dated was convinced that he and I was just friends (at least that was what he always assured me during high school).

"Hey, Katniss, I guess this is our class," Madge interrupted my thought.

I smiled to her and we stepped into the class.

I was glad that class has not started. We reached 5 minutes earlier. I scanned through the class and noticed two empty seats. Great!

So I led Madge to the empty seats and we settled down in our seat.

"So, Madge, how was life back in Texas?"

"Well Katniss, I actually moved to another town a year after you left. My father was offered to become the mayor in another place," she smiled while explaining to me.

"Oh~~ how was…"

"Good morning my fellow student," I was interrupted by the greeting from the lecturer.

"First of all, welcome to Capitol University. You made the right choice to be in the best university and let alone to be in my class. I am Seneca Crane but you can call me Mr. S. So for a start, please open your book and turn to page 5."

While I was taking down the notes from the lecture, Madge nudged me from the side. I was startled by her action, and mouthed to her _"What?"_

She began to scribble a note and passed to me.

I opened the note and it said,

"Look at your 7 o'clock. Blonde Boy is totally checking you out. Stalker alert! Code red!"

I let out a small smile when I read the last bit of the message. I intentionally dropped my pen and picked it up to check who is this stalker she mentioned about. I was thinking to myself, seriously me? I think he was checking her out. I am not attractive at all but Madge; Madge wore the peacock knee-length dress which accentuated her body really well. She must be mistaken his gaze. So I wanted to prove her wrong by looking at that so-called stalker.

While I was picking up the pen, I had a good look at the blonde boy and I froze at my track.

It was like a déjà vu… the day when my father passed away...


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello there, first of all I would like to say thank you for reading this story. I was delighted to see the feedbacks given. To one of the reviewers which pointed out the story is similar to another story, I read the story to see what it is about. I am sad to say that maybe some of the ideas in my mind may collide with it. However, I am trying to come up with other ideas in order to minimize any collision with the other story. During the course of composing this story, I have controlled myself not to read other stories in order to prevent any similar writing style.**

**As for Beta, I am pretty new to this site and just registered myself a couple of days ago. I read the guide about Beta after reading the feedback. But I am stuck at the part where I need to create connection. Anyone care to help? I really appreciate your constructive feedbacks. It surely helped me a lot to come up with this new chapter.**

**To another reviewer, whether or not it is a love triangle, you will have to wait and see what is coming next. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.**

**To Dramione-Fan 17, thank you very much. You have followed this story through and always put a smile on my face when I see your feedback.**

**Also, tell you a secret, while composing this story, I will be looping ****_Safe & Sound by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars. _****If any one of you are curious about the outfit which I described in this story, feel free to PM me and I will show you how the outfit looked like.**

**I would like to say thank you to everyone who clicked on the " favourite" button, clicked on the "follow" button, and those who took time to actually view this story.**

**Keep the feedbacks coming in and if I make any mistakes, please point them out for me. This is to ensure a smoother pleasure while reading this story.**

**If you notice, I actually changed the rating from K+ to T because of the characters are in university. So I have to change the rating accordingly to reflect the language used.**

**As a token for being supportive, I decided to post this chapter up!**

**Cheers~**

**R&R!**

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Chapter 3

Katniss POV

Flashback…

_"What?" I whispered to Madge._

_"That cute blonde has eyes on you," Madge let a small smile and signaling her left eye brow to the boy's direction._

_I looked to the direction where she signaled me to, and I was surprised that the boy is one of Mr. Mellark's son. The shy one._

_I quickly turned away and I felt my face was heating up a little._

_"Are you blushing, Katniss?" Madge whispered._

_"What?! No, I am not!" I was a bit too loud until Mr. Beetee stopped his lesson._

_"Is there any problem there?" Mr Beetee asked in a stern voice._

_"No…" I murmured._

And it hit me because the blonde guy who is staring at me right now has the same set of eyes as Mellark's. We stared at each other for a while until…

"The Miss with the green top, is there any problem there?"

Everyone looked at me when he asked me that. Great, now everyone noticed me.

"No, sir, just looking for my pen and … I found it!" I let out a small guilty smile and showed my pen to him.

"Oh very well then… class, please turn to chapter..." Mr S continued his lecture and everyone turned to him.

At the corner of my eyes, I saw Madge was scribbling another note. I saw an evil grin on her face and she passed it to me.

"Rekindle the past life experience, much? Teehee. Anyway, isn't he cute?" I stared at the note for a few seconds while wondering if he is actually the Mellark. I wrote a note with a deep thought and passed it to Madge.

"Yeah, the whole scene where I will create a commotion and everyone turned to me. Thanks to you AGAIN. Does he look like someone we might know?"

Madge took another post-it note and scribbled something on it and gave me a wink when she passed the note to me.

I read the note given to her, "Is that your pick up line to a cute guy? Because it sure sounds pretty lame," I looked at her and mouthed to her "Talk to you later"

1 hour passed and it is time for a 15 minutes break. This is the time where the students will go to wash room, or grab a quick breakfast before the class resumed.

Madge turned to me and said softly to my ears, "Katniss, I didn't know you like to use cheesy line to strangers."

I shook my head and gave her a serious look by squinting my eyes, "Look, don't you think he resembles someone back in Texas? You remember that faithful morning before I got the news…"

Madge's face changed slightly a little. Probably she thought it may be a sensitive issue to talk about my father's death. But she was giving a hard thought on my remark.

"Katniss, you don't think that guy was the boy that made Mr… hmmm Bee or something stopped the whole class for you? The world is not that small you know."

"Mr Beetee…" I corrected her.

"But probably you are right, I am lucky enough to actually meet you here, let alone be in the same class with you. What are the odds?" I chuckled while trying to convince myself.

"Oh, speaking about the boy when we were 7, urmm, you know he approached me one week after you left Texas," Madge stopped her sentence for a while.

I turned to her again and anticipating for more.

She continued, "He asked me about your whereabouts. It was funny though, because he was really shy. He was practically stuttering when he asked me. So, I told him you have moved to New York after your father passed away, I could see sparkles in his dejected eyes. He ran off to the field moments later."

I did not answer right away because I was dumbfounded. Why would he want to ask about me? We did not interact at all when I collected and returned the clothes to the Mellark. He was always hiding at the corner. Out of curiosity, I asked Madge, "Oh, but what made you think he asked you such? And what happened to him after he asked you?"

Madge instantly replied me, "Hah! I knew you would ask that. Obviously he was into you. Told you he had eyes on you but you did not believe me. But if you asked me what happened to him, aside me remembering he ran to field, I really could not remember. It seemed like he just disappeared from the public. You know like not disappeared as in disappeared from the world, but more like keeping a low profile? Like didn't check out other girls or something?"

Madge let out the most sinister laughter after finishing off her sentence. I closed her mouth to stop her as she was a little loud.

"Oh c'mon Madge, we were like 7? Our minds were so innocent and you thought about all that nonsense? But you know what, let's just forget about it." I playfully shoved her off. It happened ages ago and I have decided this is something insignificant. Such petty things are the least things I would want to care about.

"Katniss, I feel like my bladder is going to burst. Follow me to the wash room?" she pulled me from my seat before I even had the time to react to her question.

The wash room was situated quite near to our class. Well from the map which I glanced quickly before I bumped into Madge, I realized this university has a lot of access to wash rooms.

"Urghh Katniss, why are you walking like a snail? Did you stuff any stones in your boots because it sure feels like?"

I laughed at her cute statement, "If you are in a hurry, why don't you just run to the wash room? I will catch up with you since I am not the one who is having emergency" I raised both of my hands to my eye level and flexed the index and middle fingers of both hands when I mentioned emergency.

"Fine, suit yourself. See you in a bit!" Madge stormed to the nearest wash room.

I smiled to myself and fold my arms while walking towards the wash room. I took my time since I did not have the urgency to go to the wash room. I felt my phone vibrated in my back pocket. I took out the phone and saw an incoming message. I unlocked my phone and saw the message is from Gale.

**G: "Hey Catnip! How are you doing? What time is your lunch break?"**

**K: "Stop calling me that. I am doing really great here! Found my long lost friend back in Texas. Having my 15 minutes break now. Lunch will be at 12 noon. U?"**

**G: "That's awesome, tell me about it during lunch. Haha, means we are having lunch together. Give me a call once you are at the cafeteria. Chaoz"**

I was still walking towards the wash room but my eyes were on my phone. I was about to reply his last message till I fell on the ground.

"Dude! Look where you are going," I hissed at the guy (even though it was my fault for not paying attention). I did not take notice at the guy's face as I was looking for my phone. As soon as I located my phone on the floor, I began to reach out for it.

"Hey, I am terribly sorry," the guy took my phone and offered his hand to me.

My eye level was still at his hand and I still did not bother to look at his face. I took the phone but I got up myself. I always don't believe in accepting helps from others. I guessed that's how I am ever since I moved to New York. I don't like to feel weak by depending on others and learned to stand on my own feet and be independent. When I got up, the guy was still standing there, and our eyes met.

It was that guy from my class, "the Mellark". That was my name for him because for the most obvious reason, I did not know his name yet. He has the friendly blue eyes which made anyone drawn to his gaze which reminded me of that little boy in Texas. I did not know how long I stared at his eyes till he waved in front of my face as though he wanted to snap me back to reality.

"Hey, I am sorry again. Are you hurt?" gosh, why he kept on apologizing to me.

"Urm it's okay. It's not even close to a minor accident. No cuts, no bruises," I looked at him while rolling my cardigan up to show him I was fine.

He let out the cutest smile, "That's good to hear. By the way, I am Peeta" he offered his hand, probably to shake my hand.

I reluctantly gave in and shook my hand, "I'm Katniss." He grasped my hand thoroughly to make a firm handshake.

"I know…" he mumbled softly but it was clear enough for me to hear those words.

"Katniss, I am done!" Madge was screaming as if she was announcing the world that she has taken care her small "emergency". I was startled by her scream and let go his hand. Before I could say anything, she was already looking at Peeta while giving me a mischievous grin.

"Ah, someone has a new friend there," Madge nudged me from the side.

"Madge, this is Peeta. Peeta, this is Madge. We are all in the same cl…" Madge pinched my back before I could finish my sentence. It was painful enough for me to stop.

"Hey, nice to meet you, Peeta. Guess I will see you around?" Madge waved at him and dragged me away.

I could still feel he was watching me from behind but I was not tempted to look back. Madge was still dragging me away till I stopped her pace.

"What was that pinch for?"

"Girl, you are such an amateur. How can you ever reveal that you are in the same class as him?" Madge gave me the look as if I am the world dumbest girl.

"Why not? He is in our class right?" I questioned her seriously.

"If you actually said that means you are letting your guard down. Haven't you heard the phrase 'Play Hard To Get'? So if you showed him that you are aware that he is in the same class as you, you are actually revealing to him that you stalked him in the class, you fool," Madge shook her head to show her disappointment at me.

"What? Oh my, what are you talking about? This is just some complicated shit. Look Madge, first of all I really want to tell you this from the bottom of my heart that I am not looking for any relationship in my life. And... I would like to replace the word _stalked _to _notice_ which I don't see any harm in being honest to him just now."

"Did I hear wrongly? No relationship? Isn't that a biggest bull. Girl, you are so attractive, everyone in the hall is practically looking at you, and here you are telling me no relationship…for life?" Madge rolled her eyes.

It's true that people would just stare at me which annoyed me. But one thing I know is not because of how "attractive" I was, it is more like how hideous I am. Almost all the girls I see in the hallway were wearing dresses and tight fitting skirts. They were probably just wondering how oblivious I was to actually make myself more presentable.

"Madge, I don't think they are looking at me because of that. They are just annoyed at how my appearance like. Everyone here is wearing trendy clothes, but me? I am wearing something ordinary. They must be thinking I am not fit to be in this society," I chuckled while giving that remark because I was supposed to be the one who feel annoyed and not them.

"You have no idea what are you talking 'bout. But you know what, I'm tired to try to convince you. So, whatever," Madge actually showed her thumb and forefingers of both hands to form the letter "W". This girl is really entertaining.

"On a serious note, why no relationship? Have you ever been in any relationship?" Madge was giving a concerned look.

I shook my head light and said, "Hmm, you know ever since my father passed away, I witnessed how love can break someone's life apart," I paused a while.

"My mother has shut herself from the world, even towards Prim and I. I really do not want to be in that state because I want to protect the people I care about, people like Prim and Uncle Haymitch. I don't want to see them hurt especially Prim. It's hard for her because she was very young when our father passed away. She has no one to look up to. So I have to set an example and replaced the mother's figure in her eyes. I have never allowed myself to be interested at someone in a romantic way and that's how I keep my distance from love," I was looking on the floor while telling her my thoughts.

Madge just gave me a warm hug and pat my back, "Oh dear, I really have no idea how hard your life is. I am sorry that I wasn't there for you."

When we pulled away from each other, I saw a tear rolling from her cheek. I used my finger from my right hand to wipe it away, "Please don't be silly. It's not your fault." I took my left hand to squeeze her right hand, a sign to assure her I am fine. She smiled at my gesture.

We held hands and walked to the room silently.

I was concentrating in the class till 10 minutes before it ended. Suddenly there was a loud thump at the back of the class. So everyone turned back to see what was that about.

It was Peeta, he dropped his heavy text book on the floor which caused the loud noise. I could see his face was flushed and he was apologizing to everyone for causing the commotion. Madge let out a soft giggle and I shushed her instantly. It wasn't my act to protect him exclusively from humiliation but I was never fond of such action. I always live by the principle on not to ridicule, humiliate or demean others. I guessed I developed this when I was being tortured from the past.

When Mr S resumed his lecture, my mind went away to our recent encounter.

_"That's good to hear. By the way, I am Peeta" he offered his hand, probably to shake my hand._

_I gave in and shook my hand, " I'm Katniss"_

_"I know…" he mumbled but it was clear enough for me to hear those words._

What does he mean that he knows? He knows my name? How could he possibly know my name? Or maybe he wanted to say he knows something but couldn't finish the sentence because we were interrupted by Madge? What he wanted to tell me?

"Okay, class, see you tomorrow," Mr S announced to the class to end the session.

Urggh, I hate myself for allowing my mind to wonder around. I missed the last 10 minutes of the lesson. I turned to Madge, "Hey, did you copy the notes just now? I was lost for a while."

Madge was giving me a questioning look, "Well, you can have mine but who stole your mind away?"

I know she was expecting me to say Peeta which was actually the truth. But to avoid any further questions from her, I just told her, "Well, I did not go to the loo during the first break. So my bladder was pretty full and I was concentrating to distract my urge to pee." Wow that was a fast lie.

"You should have just excused yourself to the wash room. It's not that Mr S will stop you. Let's empty the tank and head for lunch," she ushered me to the exit.

Before I left the class, I took a quick peek at my desk to check whether I left anything. I realized Peeta was staring at me. But as soon as I caught his gaze, he quickly looked away and packed his things. I shook my head and told myself that maybe it was just pure coincidence. Perhaps he wanted to look at other things but our eyes met halfway.

After taking care of my fake urgency to wash room, we headed to cafeteria. I told Madge that we will be having lunch with Gale which she was cool about it. When we reached the cafeteria, I was overwhelmed with the number of students filled up in the huge cafeteria. I took out my phone and dialled Gale's number.

"Hey!" Gale answered the phone

"Hey, I am here already. I am actually standing at the entrance. Where are you?"

"Here!"

I stopped talking for a while and felt weird. It seemed his voice from the phone was different. As my mind was trying to fix the puzzles, someone turned my back and hugged me.

"Right behind you, oh no, I mean in front of you!" Gale was hugging me tightly.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Madge was looking at us. I asked Gale to let go and introduced him to Madge. They both shook hands.

"Let's go grab some food. I am famished!" Gale was rubbing his stomach.

Madge and I happily obliged to his instruction as we were hungry too. I grabbed one tuna sandwich and one cheese bun. Before I made payment, I saw there was some soup-of-the-day promotion. So I ordered them too. Madge ordered Spaghetti Bolognese while Gale, he was a monster. He took a set of burger and fries added with one jumbo hotdog. He also added two pieces of fried chicken on his plate.

"Someone's hungry," I looked at Gale. He just winked at me.

We walked to an empty round table which could fit five people. We are actually pretty comfortable with our seats and Gale was practically counted as two people since he is so tall and well-built.

"So, Madge right?" Gale asked seductively while leaning closer to Madge.

I raised my right eye brow to his question and gave him a signal him not to mess with my friend. He looked at me, and nodded to assure me that he will behave.

He cleared his throat and asked Madge in a serious tone, "So how do you know, Katniss?"

Madge smiled at him and told him the story of how we met. They exchanged their stories, where Gale told her about his first encounter with me and how was life in high school with me. It sure brought back some good memories and I was glad to say that my high school life was rather peaceful. I would love to continue that streak here.

Suddenly, Gale stopped his conversation and was waving at someone, "Hey, over here!"

"Good grief, you are so loud," I scowled at him as his voice was piercing my ears. I was rubbing my ears and not concentrating at who he was waving to. I looked at Madge and her eyes popped out of surprised as though it will come out any time. So I leaned in closer to her face to follow her gaze.

"Hey Peeta!" Gale gave a bro hug to Peeta.

"Girls, this is Peeta, he is my room-mate Peeta these two wonderful ladies here are…" Gale was halfway introducing Peeta to Madge and I.

"Yeah, we know him. He is from our class. Noticed him when he dropped that text book on the floor," Madge giggled while pointing at the law text book.

Gale was surprised and he told Peeta to get something to eat and join us.

"It's okay, I have brought my own lunch," Peeta told Gale.

"That's cute, a guy bringing a lunch box," Madge grinned at me.

When he opened his lunch box, I saw 3 cheese buns, and they smell really good. I was staring at his lunch box.

"Katniss, behave! You are behaving like you want to snatch Peeta's lunch," Gale smacked me from the back causing me to cough lightly.

"Excuse her, Peet. She has this weird obsession with cheese buns. As you can see, her lunch will always revolve at least a cheese bun," Gale pointed the cheese bun which I was holding with my left hand.

"It's okay. Hey Katniss, you want to exchange one of my cheese buns with yours? Maybe you will like it," Peeta offered me his lunch box.

Without any second, Gale swiftly took the bun from my hand and exchanged it with one of the buns in Peeta's lunch box. I was stunned by his action.

"Peet, don't bother asking her because she will refuse your offer and debate with you. You will puke blood to ever be involved in Katniss' hot debate," Gale turned to Peeta.

I glared at Gale for embarrassing me in front of Peeta and Madge. Without hesitation, I stubbed Gale's right foot with my boots and smiled at him. He did not shout but I could see it in his face that he was in pain.

"I will accept it this time, Peeta," I smiled at Peeta while stepping Gale's foot even harder. Gale's face turned bluish.

Peeta nodded and smile at me.

I took a big bite of the cheese bun and my taste bud was exploding with the gratifying flavour I felt firework in my mouth while munching every single bite of the cheese bun. Every time the cheese melts in my mouth, it sent me straight to heaven.

"Katniss, you looked as if you are having an orgasm," Gale was laughing at me while pointing at my face.

I stopped my motion, and realized I got carry away with the cheese bun but I was too late. Madge was bursting with laughter and I bet if she could roll on the floor, she would do so. I wanted to step on Gale's foot again for exposing me but he moved his foot away. Prick!

Only Peeta was watching me quietly. He just looked at me and gave me that cute smile again.

"Katniss, you seemed to enjoy the buns more than I do. Why not you have the rest and I grabbed some other things?" Peeta pushed the lunch box to me.

Before I could say anything, he continued his sentence with, "Besides, I have been eating these buns for so many years. I was afraid that I'll be sick with these until I found someone who enjoys them so much." Seemed like he knew me pretty well, but I guessed that's because of Gale!

I sighed and accepted his offer. It wasn't my gesture to just accept things but I was trying to prove Gale wrongly on his sly remark about me and my stupid debate.

Peeta left the table to get his food at the counter.

"Katniss, what is your next lesson?" Madge asked.

"Hmmm, Principles of Biology and Lab" I answered.

"Whoops, same class as you." Gale interrupted.

It was actually one of the subjects for freshman year. Other subjects for my first year in Bachelor of Sports and Science are General Descriptive Chemistry I and Lab and other core courses.

"Aww, I guess I will see you after your class? Probably we can grab coffee or something?" Madge asked.

"I am sorry, Madge, I need to rush home after class. Gotta pack my stuffs."

"Pack? You are leaving here?" Madge asked in disbelief.

"No no no. I am moving here," I smiled at her while I pat her shoulder.

"Really? That's a good news! I am staying here too. We will be so much nearer to each other. Can I come and help, you know to speed up the process?" her eyes were glowing with hope.

"Help, no! But you are more than welcome to follow me to Uncle Haymitch's house. Prim would me more than happy to see you!"

"Whee, that's great, pinky promise?" she was offering her pinky finger to me.

"Promise" I smiled at her and returned her gesture.

"What did I miss out? I see something cheery is happening here?" Peeta looked delighted.

"It seems the girls managed to be closer to each other. Apparently, Katniss is moving to the campus which I only get to know NOW," Gale said sarcastically while looking at me.

I mouthed"_Sorry"_ to him.

"Wow, that's great news Katniss!" Peeta smiled even wider after hearing the news which annoyed me because I personally don't know this guy, and here he is trying to be pretentious and being so happy about it. Who does he think?

"Why are you so happy about? You don't even know me," I scowled at Peeta and walked away.

Peeta was surprised by my action and his face changed colour.

"Peet, don't worry about it. That is Katniss. She has always been temperamental. It's very hard to approach her and it took me so long to crack her shell. If you are interested to be her friend, then you have to patient and persistent, or else just ignore her. Heard of ignorance is a bliss?" Gale let out a sigh while explaining to Peeta.

"It's okay, Gale. I understand," Peeta let out a small smile yet had sad eyes on his face.

"That's the spirit, bro, I gotta run and catch up with Katniss. See you later," Gale stood up and slings his bag on his shoulder.

Madge was sitting quietly while observing the whole incident.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys. I have read up the handful reviews for chapter 3 and I think it was time for me to change my direction a little to dedicate this to the readers who supported my story.**

**Pretty bumped to see a lot of traffic for my story but it did not reflect on the reviews, favourite, follow I have received. Just wondering is the story really bad? Sobs~**

**Anyway, here you go, Chapter 4 (way shorter than the previous chapters because I was de-motivated with the response received). But nevertheless, I appreciated for those who continued to show your support! You are the reason I posted this new chapter in a short time span.**

**R&R!**

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Chapter 4

"I see someone is feeling down," Madge broke the silence.

Peeta looked at Madge and gave her a small smile.

"I am assuming silence means an agreement," Madge paused a while to study Peeta's expression but she couldn't read his mind.

She leaned in closer to Peeta while locking her gaze to Peeta's eyes, "Are you interested to befriend with Katniss, the girl on fire?"

Peeta was still not responding to Madge's question. He was looking at the empty space in the cafeteria as though he was in a deep thought.

Madge was pretty agitated with his rudeness where he ignored her completely. As she finished off her last bite of spaghetti, "You are such a jerk, no wonder Katniss snapped at you," she snarled and stood up from her seat.

Before she left her seat, Peeta held her hand and pulled her back to the seat. Her eyes and mouth widen but nothing was coming out from her mouth as she was surprised with his action. Peeta looked at her and asked, "Don't you remember me, Madge?"

"Yes, I remember you staring at my friend non-stop ever since we walked into Mr Seneca's class," Madge answered him sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"No… actually it is ever since I was 6," Peeta sighed and looked at Madge's jaw-dropping expression.

* * *

"Katniss! Wait up!" Gale was shouting while running to Katniss' direction to catch up with her.

Katniss looked behind her shoulder and saw it was Gale. She stopped her pace and waited for him.

When he reached Katniss, he was out of breath. Panting heavily and at the same time trying to regain his composure, "Wa…it… let me co..ol down."

Katniss let out a small chuckle, when she saw Gale's expression. His back was drenched with sweat and he kept on airing his yellow pocket roll up polo shirt with his left hand and another hand was on his right knee. As she saw him almost regaining his composure, she crossed her left arm with his right arm, "C'mon, we will be late for our lecture."

The lecturer for the Principles of Biology and Lab was Miss Wiress Plummer. She is in mid-forties and has dark hair and ashen skin. The lecture was only 1 hour because it was a session on the overview of the whole semester.

When the lecture ended, Gale took out a fresh pair of training attires from his backpack and looked at Katniss, "Ready for Athletics?"

The question startled her because she almost forgotten about the selection of members for Athletics. In Capitol University, not everyone was entitled to join this team as it was one of the prestigious co-curriculum activities. Only the strongest and finest people will be selected to the team.

"Yikes! I have forgotten to bring my training gears!" Katniss closed her mouth and looked disbelief at her own forgetfulness.

"Catnip, maybe you can call Madge whether she can lend you hers since she is staying in the campus and the session will only start in half an hour time," Gale held her shoulder while looking at her grey eyes.

Katniss' eyes were litted up when she heard Gale's spontaneous brilliant suggestion. She dialed Madge's number.

"Hey Madge"

"Hey, Katniss, are you done with your class? My class got cancelled and I am in my room now."

Katniss' face was glowing when she heard the news from Madge,

"Madge, I need your favour. I will be going for the selection of members for Athletics in 30 minutes time and I am wondering whether you're able to lend me your sports attire?"

"Sure thing, my room number is 320. Just call me when you are here!"

Katniss ended the call and was smiling at Gale.

Without exchanging words as if they have mutual understanding that they will see each other later, Katniss ran to Madge's room.

When Katniss reached Madge's room, the door was slightly open. Katniss gave a light knock and Madge was already making her way to the door.

"Here are your clothes. By the way, what's your shoe size?" she handed Katniss a red sports bag which contained the clothes.

Katniss slapped her forehead as she totally forgotten about borrowing a pair of running shoes, "Size 9."

"You are in luck! Same size as me. Aren't we a twin or something?" Madge giggled while looking for her shoes in her shoe rack.

"Ahah! Found it. Take it and go!" Madge ushered Katniss to the door.

"You are my savior! I will return to you after I clean them," Katniss gave a hug to Madge and left Madge's room.

"Anytime, dear. Call me when you are done!" Madge yelled at her. Katniss smiled and ran to the changing room.

In the changing room, Katniss quickly slipped into the training gears. She was wearing a white Stella McCartney Tennis Performance Tee which is tight-fitting and has a scoop neck. She paired the top with a black Stella McCartney Three-Quarter Run Tights. As Madge came from a wealthy family, she had all the designers' clothes. Katniss looked at the mirror and made sure everything is in place. She checked her braids and they were still intact. She put her casual clothes in the locker and headed to the field.

As she was approaching the field, she saw so many students were already stretching themselves. In her observation, she saw a lot of buffed guys and toned muscles girls. She felt threatened at what she observed as she might not make it to the team. Her mind slowly wondered to her high school years where she used to represent her school in archery and athletics where she brought triumph to the school. She won almost all the competitions which she participated and people used to call her girl on fire as she was unstoppable. She regained her confidence when she recalled the moments.

"Looks like Catnip managed to get herself the sports attires after all," Gale patted her shoulder from behind.

"Stop calling me Catnip!" she glared at him over her shoulders.

"Greeting to my fellow students!" announced with a loudspeaker by a man with dark brown skin and golden brown eyes.

"I am Thresh Okeniyi, coach for Capitol University Athletics. Without further introduction, we shall start with the selection. May odds be ever in your favor," he put the loudspeaker on the ground and jogged to the end of the track field.

He stood easily over six feet tall and was very well-built and was wearing a white-collar cotton top and a pair of red track pants. He signalled his assistant to proceed with the selection.

"Okay everyone, you will be split into 2 teams. I will call out your names and the team number. Team 1 will be here while team 2 will go to Thresh. Are you with me?" the assistant instructed with a serious face.

Everyone said yes in unison.

She took out the list of names and started to read out the name one by one. Katniss was zoning out while hearing the names faintly in the background.

_"Clove Fuhrman, Team 1"_

_"Glimmer Rambin, Team 2"_

_"Marvel Quaid, Team 1"_

_"Johanna Mason, Team 2"_

Katniss was lost already by the fourth name and the names were still being called out …

_"Katniss Everdeen, Team 2"_

She glanced quickly at Gale whose name was not called yet and walked to Thresh.

_"Michelle Rogen, Team 1"_

_"Gale Hawthrone, Team 2"_

Gale winked at Katniss when he walked over to her side. She just nodded to acknowledge his presence. They were busy checking out their current team members to observe their strengths and weaknesses and did not pay attention to the names subsequently. But it was interrupted when she heard…

_"Cato Ludwig, Team 2"_


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, you guys are amazing. I didn't know one chapter can change a lot of things. I am so happy to see more tangible supports through more feedbacks, favourites and follows. Not to mention, this story was chosen by one of the communities. Thank you very much!**

**I have read the feedbacks and realized that there are doubts on whether this story is similar to another story. As I mentioned previously, I did check the story out after it was pointed out by one of the reader. I did mention that I was sorry to say that some of the things may collide but I have my own plot in my mind already. But rest assure, I did not copy anything. So to the writer of the story, flipflop5, I would like to apologise if any of the chapters throughout the story which may be accidental to yours. You are a great and inspirational writer and I wouldn't want to show any disrespect to you and your readers by copying your story.**

**As for the readers, I will leave it to all of you to judge. If any of you feel this story was very similar to the other story in terms of plots and wordings, do let me know via feedbacks or private messages. I will withdraw the story if the responses are overwhelming on me copying the story. Nevertheless, do wait up on future chapters as I will be throwing in more plots and twists to the story.**

**After this story, I will be coming up with another story. I have the summary in my mind and started to scribble some details on my notebook. Just to be safe in case I forget any ideas.**

**I know I have thanked you before, but I would like to stand on my feet and bow down to every one of you for showing me continuous support! It has definitely driven me to post this chapter, and I'm off since it's weekend!**

**Enjoy, R&R!**

* * *

Chapter 5

Katniss's fear began rolling slowly. She felt her whole body was turning cold and there were goosebumps at the back of her neck. Her eyes followed Cato's movement who was walking towards her direction.

_"You are an ugly piece of filthy rat! Ugly wretch!" uttered one of his comrades who have brown hair. _

_"You are a piece of dirt, and that puddle of mud suits you well since you are such a low life and you don't deserve to be in a school" _

She flinched a little when she remembered the moments where she was kicked by Cato and his two friends. Her right hand slowly ran through to the back to trace the scar where Cato whacked her with a sharp stick. "Damn," she thought while clenching her fist.

Her fear turned to anger as she realized she was no longer helpless and could defend herself. Cato was standing in front of her and she continued to glare icily on him.

As she was completely caught up in her angry thoughts, Gale interrupted her. "Catnip? Knock knock… ," he was knocking her head lightly with his left fist.

"What the hell, Gale," Katniss hissed at him which left Gale lifted both of his hand up to show he surrendered. "Wooh, hold it there. Are you okay?" Gale asked her but stepped back a little to keep his distance from her.

"None of your business," she growled at him.

Little did she realize, Cato was looking at her over his shoulder which erupt her anger even further. But he looked away when,

"Listen up! We are going to have trial run test. Each of you will be doing 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m sprint. As there are too many participants, you will only be given 1 chance for each sprints. So, give your best. Do a 5 minutes warm-up and we will start," Thresh voice was deep and loud.

Gale pulled Katniss away from where she was standing to get an empty spot to warm-up. While they were doing their stretching and sit-ups, Gale couldn't help it but to ask Katniss, "Hey, what's wrong with you? You looked disturbed."

Katniss was lying on her back on the ground when he asked her that. She did not answer him till she pulled her upper body up and faced Gale. "Nothing, Gale, I am just nervous about the selection," Katniss lied to him.

Gale was not convinced with her answer but he did not want to pursue further to avoid setting Katniss' flame. So he continued stretching. As Katniss was doing her 50th sit up, she felt someone was watching her in close vicinity but she shrugged the feeling off and continued her warm-up.

Katniss' concentration was interrupted when she heard loud snickering voice and turned around to see a girl with shiny blonde hair clad with a one-size smaller white tank top and pink sport shorts which were just below her bottom. Her face rang a bell to Katniss' mind. She was one of the first four names which she paid attention when the assistant called out the name. Glitter? Or something like that.

Katniss saw the blonde girl was flirting with Cato and she almost puke to witness that moment. Of all people, the Glitter girl chose Cato to flirt with. As she was feeling disgusted, there it was again, Cato was looking at Katniss while the Glitter girl was pulling him closer to her.

"What is his problem? He wouldn't be able to recognise me after all these years since his head was full of shit and left him with a pea-sized brain," she thought to herself.

"Time's up. Everyone back in the line!" Thresh yelled.

It started with 100m sprint. Gale went before Katniss and he did a good job. He clocked in at 11.9 seconds which was fairly a good record. From far, she saw there was one girl with a short boy-cut punk hairstyle in Team 1. This girl caught her eyes because of her bold appearance and she possessed an athletic body. She observed the girl and she heard her time was 13.0 seconds which raised the standard even higher for women's category.

Her attention turned to her own team and she saw it was Cato's turn. She began to feel angry when she saw him walking to the track for the trial run. She observed him quietly. He has a blonde spiky hairstyle with prominent six packs as his shirt was tight-fitting. He stood at least 6 ft tall. Cato placed his left foot behind the line and right foot behind his left. His hips rose to a position slightly higher than his shoulders and remained motionless. When Thresh blew the whistle, he dashed off.

"Wow, that's a monster record, 11.7 seconds!" Thresh looked at his stop-watch and almost all the girls cheered for him.

As Cato was walking back to his original position, the girls approached Cato and started to throw themselves to him.

"Dang, I must be better than him!" Katniss told herself when she saw the smirk on Cato's face. She saw the perfect opportunity because everyone was paying attention to Cato. So she volunteered to Thresh that she would start next. Katniss did not like attention, so if she ever get a better timing than Cato, she could at least kept her profile low.

As Katniss started to sprint, Thresh stopped the stop-watch in a short time. His eyes were wide open and before he could churn out the right words, Katniss quickly ran to Thresh to check the time. When she went over to his right side, she saw the stop watch showed…

11.3 seconds.

Katniss lift her finger in front of her mouth to signal him not to shout the time. They exchanged glances and Thresh smiled to himself, as he knew Katniss' intention. Although Cato was swarmed by girls, he managed to watch the sprint made by Katniss and the exchange gestures between Thresh and her.

The trial run continued with the 200m, 400m and finally 800m. Katniss was flying high, her records were astonishing and she never failed to choose the right timing to perform her try out. Gale on the other hand excelled in 200m run but was average in 400m and 800m as he was more on the short distance sprint. Cato's performance was soaring high too and the girls continued cheering for him whenever he did the sprint but he seemed to ignore all the attention from the girls.

"Alright, we are done. Come back here tomorrow at 4pm for the results. Thanks!" the assistant announced to dismiss the students.

"Going home, Catnip?" Gale slung his hand across Katniss' shoulder while heading to the changing room.

She nodded, "Yeah, I will be going home to pack my things. Speaking of which, I need to call Madge after I change my clothes."

"Alright then. Guess I shall see you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, and urmm Gale… I am sorry for lashing out on you before the session started," Katniss said it softly while looking on the floor.

Gale laughed at her instantly, "Catnip, don't be silly. I know you since forever."

He left her after finishing the last sentence. Katniss went to the changing room and retrieved her clothes from the locker. She was thinking the whole incident during the selection and Cato's sudden presence in the university. She let out a sigh when she thought about that, never in her mind that he would be in the same university as her. She thought that judging from his character, he would be a wasted creature. Deep down in her heart, she was hoping that it was just another guy who had the same name as the abusive boy back in Texas.

She whispered to herself, "It doesn't hurt to hope a little."

She took out her phone and started to dial Madge's number. After the third dialing tone, Madge answered the phone.

"Yellow, Katniss"

Katniss giggled a little as she thought to herself that Madge always had something different to express herself.

"Hey Madge, I am done with the selection. Are you ready?"

"More than ready, dear! See you at the main entrance?"

"Okay, see you in 5 mins time."

Katniss slung her Alexa handbag and headed to the main entrance. On her way, she saw Peeta from far. Suddenly she felt guilty as she was thinking of her meltdown in the cafeteria. She couldn't help it but to feel awful at her outburst. He was just being nice, and she thought to herself that he was actually a genuine person. Peeta's eyes wandered around the hallway and his gaze locked to Katniss' gaze. He looked nervous and he seemed like he was fighting with himself on whether he should stay at his current position or avoid Katniss. Before he could think of the next step, Katniss caught up with him, "Hey Peeta."

He stuttered, "He..y, Kat…niss"

There was an awkward silence in the air. Both of them were thinking very hard, trying to choose the right words.

However, Katniss managed to break the ice,"Peeta, I just want to apologise. I did not know what happen and I just snapped at you for no reason."

Peeta shook his head vigorously, "No Katniss, I think I was just too pushy and made you feel uncomfortable. I totally understand that."

Katniss felt relief at his reply and she did not know why she felt that way. She offered her hand to him but Peeta's head tilted slightly and had a confused expression on his face.

"Well, we should start anew? I am Katniss Everdeen,"she smiled at him.

Peeta's eyes were lit up and shook her hand, "I am Peeta Mellark."

She stood there and wonder to herself, the word seemed so familiar. Her eye brows frowned as she was trying to think really hard. After a few seconds, it clicked her mind and her eyes grew bigger while looking at Peeta and her jaws dropped.

Not too far away, Madge saw the situation and quickly ran to Katniss and grabbed her arms.

"Katniss, let's go. We will be late and I think I saw your uncle's car is out there already," Madge uttered the words in a rush while closing Katniss' jaw.

"Oh hi and bye Peeta!" Madge glanced Peeta quickly and pulled Katniss away.

"… oh bye…" Peeta was taken aback with the sudden interruption but managed to bid his goodbye to both of them.

As Katniss and Madge reached the main entrance, Katniss regained her senses and it hit her. "Madge, what was that for? You lied. You wouldn't know my uncle's car because we just reunite today and my uncle told me he will only be here by 6. What's going on?"

Madge looked at her watch and realized they had 30 minutes to kill. She scanned through her surroundings and saw a long bench nearby. "Follow me, I will tell you in a while." Katniss obliged and followed Madge from behind.

As they were seated on the bench, Madge started talking, "You know Katniss, after you left the cafeteria, I was pretty mad at Peeta too because he was ignoring me."

She paused a while to look at her surroundings to make sure no one is around and was satisfied with the current atmosphere.

She continued, "I was about to leave the table till Peeta pulled me back. When I told him off that he had stared at you since you entered the class … he corrected me and said he has done that since he was 6. I was so surprised at his reply and asked him further."

_"What? What do you mean by since you were 6?" Madge looked confused._

_"You don't remember me? I was the boy who asked you about Katniss after she left Texas," as Peeta explained._

_Madge was digesting all the information and she remembered her little notes exchanged with Katniss where she mentioned that Peeta looked like the boy in Texas. But she did not want to tell Peeta that Katniss suspected that he was the same boy back in Texas._

_"B-ut why didn't you tell Katniss that you know her before this?" Madge asked._

_"I assumed she forgotten about me. No point bringing up the past and maybe she might not want to remember about her past judging of what happened to her before," he looked slightly hurt when he told Madge his thoughts._

_"Oh…" that's the only word came out from Madge's mouth._

As Madge finished her story, Katniss looked disturbed.

"Hey, what's wrong Katniss?"

Katniss let out a loud sigh, "Madge, there are just too much of things going on. First, Cato… now Peeta…it's just overwhelming…"

"Wait wait wait, what do you mean by Cato? Who is Cato?" Madge voice became louder and before Katniss could explain further.

"Shoot! Do you mean that psychotic Cato back in Texas?" Madge shouted.

Katniss was shocked and quickly closed Madge's mouth while looking around to check whether were there anyone who might overhear their conversation.

"Are you crazy, Madge!" she whispered with an angry tone.

As Katniss slowly let go off Madge, Madge was trying to calm herself down.

"Yes, that Cato. You know he was there for the selection. I was shocked to hear his name was being called out. Although deep down I was hoping that it might be just another dude that has the same name but his feature is so similar… you know blonde hair with blue agonizing eyes," Katniss explained to Madge but avoided her gaze.

Madge observed Katniss' behaviour she was shaking a little and was playing with her braids. She leaned in closer and hugged Katniss."You know what, I'm here for you. You have Gale too. And look at you, you are a tough girl. I don't think this psychopath can do any harm to you anymore. Worse come to worst, take an arrow and aim his brain."

Katniss let out a small laugh at Madge's sly remark. "Yeah you're right, I am not scared of him, I am just angry. Everytime I see him I was so fearful that I might turn into Hulk and just smash his head!"

Suddenly Katniss and Madge heard a familiar honk. It was Uncle Haymitch.

"Hey, that's my uncle, let's just not think about it and have fun! I can't wait to introduce Prim to you."

Madge squealed, "Whee, I am so excited!"

But deep down, Madge was feeling slightly guilty...


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long hiatus. I've been busy with work but fret not, next week I will be on leave for a week. This means I have more time to write this story. **

**I would like to say thank you again for the continuous support. You have no idea how happy I was when I read your feedbacks. Please do write in more as it gives me more inspiration to write better. I am still improving, and would like to apologise if I made any mistakes. **

**Not sure if this is a boring chapter cause I was pretty exhausted while composing this story due to my work.**

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Chapter 6

As Uncle Haymitch was asking Katniss about her experience on her first day of university, Madge's mind drifted away while looking outside the window.

_"Can I trust you?" Peeta asked Madge quietly._

_"Good grief, are you just weird or just … weird?" Madge answered him sarcastically but as she saw Peeta looked even more hurt, she felt guilty._

_"Why you'd ask me that? It's like, we just talked and here you are asking me this serious question." _

_"Just because you are Katniss' friend…" Peeta's words just disappeared towards the end of his sentence._

_"Yes you can trust me as long it does not hurt Katniss or me," Madge answered in a stern tone to make sure he gets the message that she meant every single word._

_"You know the reason why I am here although I was supposed to inherit my family's business?" Peeta's blue glassy eyes were staring at Madge. They looked as if the tears were about to spill over._

_"Erh, I don't know… like I said, maybe I just talked to you only? But if you ask me to take a wild guess, you're here cause you want to be a stalker?" Madge giggled as she managed to pull out another sarcasm moment on Peeta._

_"I am here for Katniss…" Peeta stopped his words when he felt vibration in his pocket. It was actually a reminder for him to attend the next class. He apologized to Madge as he needed to excuse himself._

_"Please keep it a secret for the time being," Peeta winked at her and hurriedly left the table, leaving Madge stunned at her seat after hearing Peeta's revelation. It certainly made her mind raised thousand of questions but they were unanswered as Peeta left for class._

As Madge was pretty caught up with her own thought, she did not realize Katniss was calling her name a few times.

"Madge, Madge?" Katniss was moving Madge's right shoulder.

"Wh-at?" Madge stammered as if she was being awaken from a dream.

"Uncle Haymitch was asking you whether you want to stay with us for the night." Katniss gave her a bright smile.

"Wh—at? Stay? Huh?" Madge slurred.

Katniss was pretty annoyed at Madge's blurriness, so she just said, "You are staying over at my place for the night. This is an order!" Katniss folded her arms and rested her back on the seat.

"I am? …oh yes I am!" Madge squealed as she came back to her senses.

Madge leaned in closer to Katniss and crossed her right arm to Katniss' left arm while enjoying the ride back to Uncle Haymitch's house.

"Even I felt dumbfounded with Peeta's revelation… what about Katniss? Her head is pretty messed up already with Cato's sudden appearance, and now with Peeta's revelation, it might just lead to her volunteering to another place to study as she mentioned all she wanted is a peaceful life and strictly no relationship. Although Peeta did not admit that he has feeling for Katniss, but heck, the way he stared at her… So to tell or not to tell…" Madge thought to herself and was fighting with herself.

"Tell? No? Yes? No? Yes?" she was thinking to herself while looking at Katniss at the corner of her right eye.

"I can't wait to catch up with you when we reached. I will make us some coffee and you can watch me pack too!" Katniss suddenly broke the comfortable silence.

With that, Madge decided not to tell Katniss for the time being as she did not want to ruin the fun session. So, she nodded in agreement and excitedly clapped her hands, "Yes, can't wait for it!"

* * *

In the campus, Peeta was back in his room already. He was feeling restless as he thought about his first day of university. So, he started to unpack his boxes to retrieve his painting equipments. After setting up the easel by the window, he sat on a wooden stool and started to work his magic away.

Every stroke he took, he will think about the different memories he had with someone …someone that meant so much to him.

"She doesn't know, she just couldn't recognise me anymore." Peeta stroked his brush on the drawing board while thinking to himself.

"I am not surprise with that because I did not even talk to her since the first day we met when we were 6. All I did was just stood at the corner and looked at her. The only thing that we might share the same thing was just we exchanged looks, and most of the time she was the one who caught me looking at her," he sighed while continue to paint.

"I should have just said hi to her and things could be different, maybe she and I will be good friends now," his mind was interrupted with a ringing tone buzzing from his phone. It was his eldest brother, Josh.

"Hey, Peet! How's everythin'?" Josh said with a heavy Texan accent.

"Everthing's fine here…" Peeta answered his brother's question. Peeta did not have a heavy Texan accent as he always practice his speech in front of the mirror to avoid developing the accent.

"Good to know that. Ah'm just wonderin', have you met Katniss?" Josh asked.

"Yes, Josh. I did. I think I kinda screw it up," Peeta's voice showed that he was slightly devastated.

"Peet, all your life you've been waitin' for her, tryin' to find her and ya know, God is great. You found her over the net and saw her success being all written up in the bulletin, aye. You followed her news and stumbled upon the award of her scholarship in Capitol University. You said no to dad to help him up just to be near her. So, don't screw it up," Josh advised.

"Easier said than done," Peeta was still feeling pessimistic about the encounter with Katniss earlier today. He felt he gave a negative vibe with her.

"Like I said, God is great. Ya know, He will see your patience and answer ya prayers. Without knowin' it, y'all will be closer than ever. Anyway, I better get goin' aye. Cheer up little bro!"

After the call ended, Peeta just stared at his phone, thinking of his brother's words. His eldest brother had always been supportive. His brother was the only person who understands him the most. All the secret attraction with Katniss, his brother knew about it and helped him through to search her whereabouts. Although Peeta came from a wealthy family, his life was not a bed of roses. His mother would beat him and his brothers up for every mistake they made. Even the slightest mistake would grant them a beating from their mother. Sometimes their father would try to stop her from hitting them but the beatings were too frequent. That was how the he and his brothers grew very close to each other.

"Katniss…" Peeta said her name aloud.

"Huh, what Katniss?" Gale interrupted from behind.

"What the hell, Gale!" Peeta startled and somehow felt exposed. He did not realise Gale came into the room when he was talking to his brother on the phone.

"Since when you're here?" Peeta asked intently.

"Hmm, let me think…" as Gale raised his eyebrows as if he was really thinking seriously.

"Maybe, that time when you said you have a thing for Katniss over the phone?" Gale shrugged his shoulders upon answering Peeta's question which led to Peeta's eyes widen.

Peeta felt his pulse quicken and started to have sweaty palms after hearing that from Gale. He started to have flashback on his conversation with his brother. He did not recall any incidence where he said he had a thing for Katniss.

"Hah! Gotcha!" Gale said while punching Peeta's stomach lightly and started to burst out laughing.

"Dude, you should have seen your face. It was priceless!" Gale continued laughing while pointed his index finger at Peeta's direction.

Peeta felt instant relief after realizing Gale was pulling his legs but it lasted for few seconds only when Gale asked him a question where Peeta thought he would let it slide.

"Why did you call out Katniss' name?" as Gale took a step closer to Peeta.

Peeta gulped and without realizing it, he dropped his paint brush as his palms were sweating. Gale picked the brush up from the floor and handed the brush to him, "So? Why?"

Peeta was still silent as he could not find the right words to answer his question.

"Oh c'mon, as I told you before don't worry about Katniss' outburst back in the cafeteria. Lighten up dude," Gale grinned and had Peeta in a headlock.

He let go of Peeta while Peeta let out small cough as if he was out of breath due to the headlock. Gale heard his own stomach rumbles and he looked at Peeta, "Let's have dinner outside, I'm starving."

Peeta nodded and packed his drawing kits. This time he knew he was definitely off the hook from Gale about Katniss. He changed to a solid burgundy kangaroo hooded sweatshirt as he saw the weather was gloomy and khaki cargo short pants. As he exited his room, he saw Gale was already waiting for him by the door.

"Since we are having dinner nearby our campus, let's just go with my bike?" Gale asked while turning his key with his middle finger.

"I don't think it's a good idea. I looked at the window just now and it will rain anytime. Why not you just follow my car?" Peeta suggested while looking at the window to reaffirm his weather prediction.

"Sounds like a plan, let's go!" Gale gripped Peeta's shoulder and they headed out from their room.

They went to a nearby pizza place called Patsy's Pizzeria. It was a pretty decent pizzeria where there was mix of crowds which consists of working adults, families, young couples and students. As they were seated on their place by the bar counter, they flipped the menu and decided to order each pizza on their own. Gale ordered the Patsy's Alla Vodka which has creamy vodka sauce with grated mozzarella, and added meatball as his additional topping while Peeta ordered Macellaio which has pepperoni, sausage, meatball, tomato sauce and grated mozzarella.

As they were waiting for the food to arrive, they had conversations while gulping their Budweiser. However, something caught Peeta's eyes, he spotted a familiar figure who was sitting at the corner of the bar counter. As he scanned thoroughly, he realized it was Cato.

"Cato, why is he here in New York? The last I checked he was selected as one of the scholar in one of the university in Chicago," Peeta thought to himself.

Gale was observing Peeta's behaviour, "Dude, are you alright?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Why'd you ask?" Peeta startled.

"Erm, maybe you just bent the metal fork when you were looking at something or someone," Gale explained while pointing to the bent metal fork.

Peeta did not realize his action because he was too caught up with his own emotions and thoughts. He just moved the fork away, "It was already in that condition when we seated here."

Before Gale could ask further, the pizzas were being served and he seemed to forget about his question to Peeta. They exchanged conversation between their meal and laughed at any random jokes they made. As Peeta finished his last bite of pizza, he excused himself to go to the washroom.

Peeta entered the washroom and he stumbled upon Cato. Both of them just stared at each other. It was not just a normal stare, but they both had angry stares planted at each other. The atmosphere in the washroom was pretty tensed. At the corner of Cato's eyes, he could see Peeta was clenching his fists. Moments later, Cato did the same to return the gesture. However, Peeta exhaled deeply to calm himself and made his way to the loo.

After he was done, Cato was still standing at the door while watching Peeta's movement. Cato's action made Peeta's anger erupted but still tried to stay calm. As Peeta was about to exit the washroom, Cato blocked Peeta's way on purpose.

"What do you want?" Peeta broke the silence but Cato continued to stare blankly at him. Neither of them moved from where they stood.

"From the way you looked at me in the bar, I'm guessing you are curious to know why I am in New York judging from my popularity back in high school where everyone knows I was offered scholarship in Chicago for my achievement in sports," Cato leaned in closer to Peeta but Peeta did not back away.

Peeta was fuming at Cato's action, as if Cato was threatening him. Peeta challenged him by moving one step closer to Cato. Now, their foreheads were almost touching. "You know what Cato, I am not afraid of your little threat," Peeta growled and pushed Cato aside as he wanted to leave the washroom. But what Cato said next stopped Peeta in his tracks.

"What if I told you, I am in Capitol University?" Cato shrugged his shoulder and stood menacingly while looking at Peeta's back.

The statement made by Cato made Peeta turned to face Cato. He grabbed Cato's collar and pulled Cato closer to him and said, "Don't you ever try to do anything funny!"

He let go of Cato's collar and stormed out from the washroom. As he was approaching Gale, he saw Gale was flirting with a stranger. Gale was distracted with Peeta's presence and saw his face was red. He could sense anger in Peeta. He quickly exchanged numbers with the stranger and left the restaurant with Peeta.

On the way back to the campus, they did not exchange any words to each other. Gale looked uncomfortable as he was trying to shift his position in his seat every minute. Peeta could sense it, "Gale, if you are wondering what happen just now, I really do not want to talk about it. All I need is to sleep my anger away."

Gale cleared his throat, "Okay dude, whatever it is, you can always talk to me. I got your back."

Peeta continued to drive while the rain was pouring heavily.

* * *

Back in the pizzeria, Cato was sitting by the bar and thinking to himself, "How dare Peeta? How could he just pulled my collar and acted bossy with me."

Then suddenly, he felt someone hand on his right shoulder, he turned and saw Glimmer. "Great, look who's here. An annoying bitch." Cato thought to himself and rolled his eyes.

"Hey handsome, want to join me for a drink," Glimmer gave a seductive smile while touching Cato's chest.

"I'll pass," Cato shoved her away which angered Glimmer as she was never rejected by any guy in her entire life.

"Ah, alpha man. You are playing hard to get with me," she paused while looking at him up and down. "Loosen up, lemme teach you how to have fun," Glimmer's right hand was on his thighs while her left hand caressing his back.

Her persistence made Cato felt agitated. "Would you please stop it," he told her off but tried to remain calm but Glimmer did not stop, "Oh c'mon, I know you are trying to resist me. Just unleash the beast in you with me."

"You don't understand English, don't you?" Cato snapped and put some money on the table. He stood up and left the pizzeria. In the background, he could hear Glimmer was asking him where is he going but he ignored her.

It was raining outside, so Cato pulled up his hood and braved through the rain to reach to his car. As he entered his car, he started to curse, "Brainless bimbo, she made me soaked with rain."

He started the car engine and played with his radio. He took a Guns N Roses cd from his dashboard and played it in his radio. After feeling comfortable with the whole set up in his car, he headed back to the campus. As the Knocking on Heaven's door played in the background, his mind wandered on the selection for the Athlete team. He was curious to know the time clocked in by the girl with the braid. He knew she was pretty fast and it worried him even more that she might even beat his time. He is a very competitive person and the thought of a girl being faster than him, annoyed him a little. After a long thought, he chuckled, "She never changed…"


	7. Chapter 7

**I am so happy to see more feedbacks! Special thanks to one of the reviewers who pointed the Texan accent. Will definitely take note about it and will drop the "aye" in future.**

**My apologies to those who felt that my previous chapter was such a cliffhanger. I didn't mean to do so. As compensation, here is another chapter. By far, this is one of the longest chapter ever written. **

**Special thanks to my faithful followers who never stop to drop by your feedbacks. My heart melts whenever I read them. **

**To those who favourite this story, I hope this chapter will not let you down. I'm still trying to build up the plot. So please be patient with me. Again, I would appreciate more feedbacks from all of you if you want to see a better chapter in this story.**

**Enjoy!R&R**

* * *

Chapter 7

Katniss POV

I was awaken and whoever who was trying to shake me awake was definitely doing a fantastic job. As my eyes were opening, I saw someone was jumping on the bed while another figure was shaking my shoulders lightly. I rubbed my eyes to clear my blurry vision. I saw Prim was jumping and Madge was the one shaking my shoulders.

"Why are you all waking me up so early in the morning," I looked at the clock and it showed 5 o'clock in the morning.

"Maybe you need to go in earlier to move your thing you lazy bum," Madge giggled while Prim was clapping her hands.

I quickly got myself ready and wore a black tank top and paired them with my favourite Blue Drama Modern Rise Demi Curve Bootcut Skinny. As usual, I tied my hair in my day-to-day hairdo which is the diagonal Dutch braid.

"Oh my god, not that jeans again!" Prim rolled her eyes.

"Why not?" Katniss looked confused at Prim's statement.

"It's just that you're so boring. It's always, white, green, black and that boring jeans of yours," Prim answered while looking at Madge to find someone to support her opinion.

Madge nodded but she helped me by saying, "Prim, it's true that it's so boring but that made Katniss…Katniss right?"

"Are you implying that I'm a boring person, Miss Undersee?" both of my hands were on my waist and I pretended to be angry.

Madge and Prim was laughing hysterically at me, "Ah ah ah, I did not say it. But you said it yourself!"

"Girls, come down and have your breakfast!" Uncle Haymitch yelled from the ground floor.

When Madge and I reached our campus, it was already almost 7 o'clock in the morning. We went back and forth from Uncle Haymitch's car to move the boxes to my new room. We headed to room 401 and entered the room. To our surprise, my room-mate was already up.

"Hello, I am Katniss, I'll be staying here with you from today onwards," I offered her hand to my new room-mate.

My new room mate had a bold appearance, girl with a short boy-cut punk hairstyle. She had an athletic body structure and made me wondered for a while. It seemed I knew this girl from somewhere.

"Hi, I'm Johanna Mason," she shook my hand firmly.

"Hey, I know you, you were in the selection right?"

"Ah, you must have witnessed my awesomeness," Johanna shrugged her shoulder and gave me a cocky smile.

I smiled to myself as I knew that I was better than her but I did not want to reveal it, "Yes, I saw you. You were very good."

"Need help?" Johanna asked.

"Not really, I actually moved all the boxes outside the door already. I just needed to shift in those boxes to the room," as I pointed to the boxes situated outside the door.

"Cut the crap, girl," Johanna shoved me to the side and began moving the boxes.

"She is not that bad after all. She has a good heart although she tries to portray the bad girl look," I thought to myself while looking at Madge who was smiling at me. We seemed to have the same thoughts about Johanna.

By the time we finished moving the boxes, it was already 8 in the morning. I realized I was sweating like a pig and regretted that I wore my favourite jeans as they were drenched with my sweat. I jumped into a quick shower.

"Katniss, I better get going!" Madge shouted from outside the bathroom.

I changed my top to an off-white long sleeve loose blouse and paired them with Capri black pants. I looked at my phone and it showed 15 minutes before half past eight. "Oh shoot, I'll be late," I quickly wore my tan ballerina flats.

"Hey wait up, let's leave together. I'm kinda lazy to lock the door," Johanna caught with me at the front door.

While walking to class, I realized that Gale was supposed to be in the same class with me, after all it was Principles of Biology and Lab. I took out my phone and texted Gale,

**K: Hey, are you coming to class?**

**G: I'll be late so don't wait for me.**

In the class, most of the seats were either taken or the empty seats are left with one side. As I would like to sit with Gale and would want to reserve a seat for him, I tried to find seats which could fit both of us. Luckily, I saw there were two empty seats in front by the window.

I settled in and put my books and bag on my seat. I then, pushed some books to the empty seat to indicate the seat was taken.

At 830 sharp, Miss Wiress entered the room but Gale was not in the class yet. I decided to send him another text message.

**K: Where are you?**

**G: Don't think I can make it for the first half. Text me when it's break time J**

5 minutes towards the lesson, there was a knock at the door.

My heart stopped but I could hear the clock in the class was ticking. My eyes were trailing at the familiar monstrous figure. It was Cato!

"You're late, young man," Miss Wiress removed her glasses and gave him a questioning look.

Cato smirked and handed the late attendance sheet to Miss Wiress. It was quite obvious that it was the late attendance sheet as it was bright red. Miss Wiress just looked at the sheet and nodded, "Very, well then. Please find a seat."

He looked around the room, and his eyes froze towards my direction as if he found his target. He was walking towards my direction,

"Oh no, not here, don't you ever think of coming here," I thought to myself while looking at the window to avoid his gaze but I stopped looking outside when I heard thump on the table beside me.

I was stunned but I brushed the feeling off, "Excuse me, but this place is taken."

Cato just took the books which I placed on the table beside me and tossed them to my place, "There are two Katniss in this class?"

I was angry at his sarcasm and stood up from my chair while hitting the table, "I said this place is taken!"

And everyone in the class looked at Cato and me. I just ignored the stares given by everyone.

"Any problem?" Miss Wiress asked in a stern voice. I had no idea why I always been into this kind of situation.

"Seems like this place is empty but she said it is taken," Cato answered while taking every book from my place and started to flip the page.

"But I don't think so, because all the books belonged to a girl named Katniss and she conveniently placed them on the empty seat here to claim the seat is taken," Cato continued.

My blood was boiling and I could feel there were steams coming out from my head.

"Class, you do know that the seats here are on first-come basis. It will be unfair to those who come in earlier. It will be even more selfish if you all want to have the seats on your own. So, I hope I get my message right here," Miss Wiress announced to the whole class without looking at me directly.

As I understood her intention of not humiliating me further in the class, I gave up fighting for the empty seat and just sat back. When Cato sat at the seat beside me, I glared at him and looked at the Miss Wiress' direction.

Not satisfied with the whole situation, I took out my phone and messaged Gale to release my anger on him.

**K: "Gale, you screwed me up."**

**G: "Huh, since when?"**

I chucked my phone in my Alexa bag, not wanting to reply him. My mind wandered to the time where Cato abused me, insulted me, humiliated me. My body was twitching with all the painful thoughts running through my mind.

I let out a sigh thinking that I'm stucked with him in today's class, breathing the same air with him made me feel suffocated. My thoughts were distracted when his right elbow accidentally brushed into mine. I jumped a little from my seat and I gave him a killer stare. He looked at me with a blank emotion without apologizing to me.

I stopped at my thoughts about him thinking that he was not worthy to be in mind, let alone distracting me from my concentration in class. I told myself to stop thinking about him and placed my attention on the lesson as I did not want to miss anything like how I did yesterday cause of Peeta.

"Ok everyone, there will be an assignment for each and every one of you. You need to find a partner to complete this assignment."

My mind quickly beamed at the idea of having Gale as my partner but my bubbles burst when Miss Wiress broke the bad news, "To make this interesting, your partner will be the one sitting beside you. Ice breaking session and completing the assignment, that's like killing two birds with one stone."

"Killing birds with my ass," I thought to myself and somehow I found myself turned to Cato.

That's when both of our eyes met. His icy blue eyes were staring into mine. When I stared into his eyes, I thought to myself, "No way am I going to pair up with that abusive bullock empty can Cato."

Somehow I loved to use bullock to describe someone who was stubborn and Uncle Haymitch worked with British people before. So that was how I picked up some British words.

As I thought further, I couldn't stand the fact that I would need to spend time with him to complete the assignment. I put my hands on my head while looking at my table, "I'm screwed. Fuck my life!"

That just showed how angry I was as I wasn't the type who threw the F bomb. Only Cato had the power to make me so furious but no way I'm allowing him to fuck my grades. I angrily took my notebook and started to jot down the points given by the lecturer on what we're needed to excel in the assignment. I glanced at Cato for a moment and I saw him leaning back comfortably on his seat and not writing anything down as if he did not care about the assignments.

"Great, why I am not surprised? He is a certified dumbo." I rolled my eyes while thinking to myself. My hands were on an autopilot mode as I continued taking notes. On the brighter side, I already had an idea on how to approach the assignment, so I didn't see any problem if I was to do it on my own although it annoyed me to allow Cato to free-ride on my work.

"Ok class, break time," the lecturer announced.

I took my phone out and called Gale. He did not answer my call so I just texted him to inform him the class is on 20 minutes break.

Cato was still sitting at his place and I felt uncomfortable with his presence, so I left my place to get a breather. I somehow made my way to the archery centre and I was like a kid in a candy store. My eyes were flickering and my fingers were running through the bows and arrows. My eyes stopped when I saw a silver bow and arrows set. I grabbed the bow and brought the string all the way up to my nose and shot the arrows away.

Every shot I took, I thought about Cato. I imagined the target was Cato's body. Feeling irritated with my partnership with Cato, I shot few more arrows to the target while shouting, "Fuck my life!"

"Why fuck your life?"

The interruption made Katniss startled. I looked around while lowering her bows.

"Sorry if I interrupted," Peeta appeared at the door while slowly approaching her.

"I really didn't mean to interrupt you but I was amazed when I saw your wonderful shots." Peeta explained while looking at the target where all the arrows hit bulleyes.

I blushed a little because I was never the type of girl who showed off my talents to anyone. Only when it involved competition, people would be able to see my capabilities. I just smiled at him and went to the target to pull the arrows which were shot by me. Then, I kept the bow and arrow back to the place where I found them.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable till you stopped shooting," Peeta was moving away from me as he thought he disturbed me.

I grabbed his shoulders to stop him from exiting the room, "Peeta, don't worry about it. I am here cause I'm having a break. I needed to stop anyway as I only have 10 minutes left."

Peeta's face was blushing but Katniss did not know why his face was red as tomato, "Are you okay? You're feeling warm?"

* * *

Peeta's POV

Her touch was so soothing and was feeling shy with her soft touch. I looked at the mirror at the wall and realized I was blushing so I played along and said, "Oh yeah, it's pretty warm in here, want to grab something to drink at the vending machine?"

I was feeling restless upon asking her. It was my first time to have a proper conversation with her, and now I asked her to grab a drink with me?

"Yeah sure, why not. I've been trying to find something to cool myself," Katniss gave me a light smile and I returned her smile with my wide toothy white smile. I could feel my eyes were glowing when I walked with her.

"You're feeling warm too, Katniss?" I asked her when we were walking towards the vending machine.

I could see Katniss was struggling with herself. Knowing her since we were young, I somehow knew she was not the type to share her feelings. I was surprised when she answered me, "Nah, I'm just upset and angry."

Her words made me slowed down my steps, "If you're comfortable, you can always share with me."

She paused for while, "It's just some jerk that I'm forced to pair up with." Katniss' tone was monotonous.

We reached the vending machine and she chose iced black coffee while I chose iced tea, "Katniss, if he's a jerk, don't let him influence your emotions. Based on your character, he must be the typical jerk who is an empty can and a bul—"

"Bullock!" both of us said in unison. We looked at each other with serious face, and we burst out laughing. It surely caught attention from some people nearby. I was amazed at the sight of Katniss' laughter; it was surely a rare sight to see her laughing and she was breathtaking, mesmerizing…she was just beautiful.

"Wow" I exhaled accidentally which made Katniss stopped laughing almost instantly.

She raised her eyebrows, "Wow?"

I shook my head and came up with something quick, "Wow, we have the same choice of word. Out of so many words, bullock."

Katniss smiled at me and had a sip of her iced coffee, "Great minds think alike."

Everytime she smiled at me, I could feel my pulse running faster than usual.

She looked at her phone and I realized it was probably due to her class was going to start soon, "Katniss, it's better for to you get going now. See you later at lunch?" I was trying to push my luck to grab another opportunity to spend time with her.

"Sure, catch up with you later," she headed to her class.

I was elated when I heard her reply. As I saw her disappearing from my sight, I made a victorious dance as I managed to spend time with her later during lunch. I was caught up with my joy and happiness, I did not realize everyone was looking at my silliness. I stopped my dance and headed back to my art class. I brushed my hands over my blonde messy hair while smiling to myself.

* * *

Little did Katniss and Peeta realized, they were being watched by Cato at the corner of the hallway.

Cato's POV (at last?)

When I opened my eyes, the clock showed 5 minutes before half past eight in the morning.

"Fuck!" I cursed myself as I was about to be late for my first class (well technically it was second but I did not attend the class yesterday because I enrolled in the university last-minute). I jumped out from my bed and quickly got myself ready. I grabbed my navy polo shirt and paired them with light grey cotton skinny chino.

I went to the admin office to get my late attendance sheet done. All I needed to do was to flirt with Miss Portia and lied to her I had some bad headache. I was pretty impressed with myself when I stepped into the class about 5 minutes late only.

"You're late, young man," a dark hair with ashen skin lady asked me. "I guess she must be the lecturer for this class," I thought to myself.

I was already anticipating that the lecturer would question me on my punctuality, so before she could speak further, I just passed her my late attendance sheet to shut her up.

"Very well then, please find a seat," the lecturer put her glasses on and continued looking at her lecture kit.

I scanned through the entire class to look for empty seat. I saw there were few seats available but there was one seat which caught my eyes, it was the girl with the braid. Without thinking twice, I went to the empty seat next to hers. I saw there were some books on the seat, so I just flipped the book and realized there were all hers. I smiled to myself and tossed the books to her place.

"Excuse me, but this place is taken," she glared at me icily while putting the books back to the empty seat.

"There are two Katniss in this class?" I told her sarcastically while tossing the books back to her place. I could see her eyes were burning with fire after I did that to her. I was pretty amused with her reaction until her patience hit the boiling point where she stood up from her chair and hit the table, "I said this place is taken!"

I was taken aback by her reaction and felt awkward when everyone's head turned to our direction.

"Any problem?" the lecturer asked in a stern voice.

Instinctively I told the lecturer while flipping the each of her first page of books which had Katniss' name on it, "Seems like this place is empty but she said it was taken. But I don't think so, because all the books belonged to a girl named Katniss and she conveniently placing them on the empty seat here to claim the seat was indeed taken."

In the corner of my eyes, I could see she could almost eat me up alive. I couldn't help myself but to find her reaction slightly entertaining.

After the lecturer told her indirectly to give up the seat, I had a winning smile on my face and just sat on the seat beside her. I couldn't take my eyes off her as I could still feel the anger in her. It felt like she was a time bomb, any second, any minute, she would just explode.

Halfway through the class, I realized the lecturer name was Miss Wiress Plummer, but my concentration in the class did not last long when I found my eyes kept looking at Katniss. As I was busy looking at her, I accidentally felt itchiness on my right foot. So I bent over to scratch my foot but accidentally brushed my right elbow to her left elbow. That's when I felt warm tingles from the brief touch. It was surely an odd feeling, an alienated feeling…I have not felt that way for a very long time.

Moments later I heard Miss Wiress announcing to the class that there would be an assignment and the partner would be the person sitting beside us. Upon hearing that, my eyes automatically went to Katniss' direction and that's where our eyes met. Her grey stoned eyes looked into mine and I felt petrified. It was again another odd feeling because I was never fearful of anything, I was always known as fearless to anything since I was named as Cato except for one thing…

"Ok class, break time," Miss Wiress announced.

Almost everyone left the class during the break time but Katniss was surprisingly still at her place. As I peeked from the corner of my right eye, I could feel she was uneasy based on her body language. Before I could start a conversation with her, she stood up and left her seat.

The sight of her leaving had somehow drawn me to follow her trail. I followed her from behind and I could see there were a lot of guys staring at her. They stared at her so hard as if they had wanted to burn an imprint of themselves into her brain but she seemed oblivious to her surroundings. I did not know why but I somehow found myself in a mixed emotions, angry and happy but I just shoved the feelings off.

I followed her till she reached the archery room. I managed to sneak into the room and hid behind a big cupboard which stored all the equipments. She was already holding a bow and the arrows were placed on the table on her left. Her posture and her grip on the bow were beyond perfection. She aimed her shots carefully and took her time to get into a proper shooting stance. The technique and precision of her shots were amazing. As much as I am an egoistic person but to see someone who was so talented in something, I would surely acknowledge the person's capability.

As Katniss yelled ,"Fuck my life!" the archery door opened. I was startled when the door opened. A figure was approaching Katniss and I realized it was Peeta. What was he doing here?

I heard them exchanging conversation and somehow I felt myself gripping my own fists tightly. I could hear them saying they wanted to get drinks from the vending machine. So, I waited for them to exit the room and I trailed both of them few seconds later.

They reached the vending machine and I managed to find a place to hide which was not too near but not too far either which was just enough for me to listen to their conversation.

I could hear Katniss was telling Peeta that she was upset and angry cause of some jerk that she was forced to pair up with in her class. Instantly, I thought it was me. I chuckled to myself as I was amused with her reaction. At least I made some impression on her.

I leaned in closer to listen to their conversation, when I heard Peeta said, "Katniss, if he's a jerk, don't let him influence your emotions. Based on your character, he must be the typical jerk who is an empty can and a bul—"

"Bullock!" both of them said in unison.

What? Me? An empty can and a bullock? That doesn't even make any sense. Annoyed with the whole conversation, I peeked through the corner of the wall and I could see Katniss was laughing her heart out. That's when the whole damn world had stopped revolving. The sight of her laughing sent butterflies in my stomach and I could see from far that her grey stone looking eyes were also smiling. Fuck man, why on earth I've been feeling so weird with Katniss.

My mind wandered too much on my own emotions when I realized she had left Peeta for class. I was about to go to the class till I saw Peeta was dancing stupidly at the hallway. Somehow I felt it was so annoying to see him being so cheery and it annoyed me even further that it was probably due to Katniss.

As I walked towards the class, I pushed every single one who was on my way. I couldn't think straight after seeing the whole incident. I felt stupid to even follow Katniss at the first place. When I reached the class, Katniss was sitting at her place already, smiling to herself.

I just pulled my chair angrily and sat at my place, sulking. Little did I know, my anger somehow overtook my mind and I snapped, "Someone's grinning at some horny thoughts."

Her lips from a "U" shape turned to "n" shape as soon as I opened my mouth. She turned to me and hissed, "Mind your own business, steroids!"

"Steroids?" I looked at my muscles on my arms. "All these are pure hard work, all my sweat and blood invested in these," I continued while flexing my arms to her.

She scoffed, "Yeah right."

"Want to test my urine to confirm your doubt?" I asked with a cocky tone.

"Look, Cato. I don't fucking care and don't fucking want to know your damn business. You're on steroids, drugs or whatnot, it's definitely not my slightest concern. It's beyond bearable to even sit here with you, let alone to be in the same team as you. So, please do me a god-damn favour. Just shut the fuck up and release all your nuisance at some other people!"

I was stunned at her meltdown and somehow my heart felt a little weird. It was as if someone was pinching my heart. But more importantly, how she knew my name? I couldn't help myself but to ask her to clear my doubt, "How'd you know my name?"

That question made her turned to me with a surprised pair looking of eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back again with a new chapter. Sorry for the delay for those who are waiting. Thanks for the feedbacks. Pointers taken note and would try to improve myself. Keep up with the support!**

**This can be a boring chapter, but I needed to post this one up to build the plot.**

**Enjoy!R&R!**

* * *

Chapter 8

Katniss' eyes were wide open as she realized she was about to reveal herself that she knew Cato before this. She did not want him to know that she was the girl who he had tormented her childhood life till she was 9 years old. She was thinking to herself how could she cover up and her mind quickly flipped to the events which she had with him ever since she saw him in the university.

"From the selection," she told him and she was trying not to show any emotions.

Somehow Cato looked disappointed with her answer but his face changed to into an evil grin, "Well well well, does that mean you are checking me out?"

His words made Katniss choked on her own saliva. She was about to tell him off not to flatter himself so much but she thought about what Peeta told her,

_"Katniss, if he's a jerk, don't let him influence your emotions. Based on your character, he must be the typical jerk who is an empty can and a bullock."_

She smiled to herself and breathed in deeply, "You can think anything you want. Whatever makes you happy."

Cato looked at her, puzzled by her reaction. He would have thought his words would make her go over the top, but she took it lightly.

Throughout the class, Cato would try to steal some glances of Katniss. Katniss could feel it and felt irritated. She felt he did it on purpose to annoy her and sabotage her concentration. The class ended after an hour from the break. Katniss quickly packed her things up till Cato stopped her, "So, about the assignment…"

"About the assignment, don't worry about it. I will do it," Katniss snapped at him.

"Woh woh woh, what gives you the authority to make this decision?" Cato folded his arms and leaned his back against his seat.

"I don't know, maybe my hunch told me that you're just unreliable and you and I are better off without your participation," she was already standing up from her seat.

"Oh no you don't. Likewise, I don't trust you to be fully hands on for this assignment," Cato gripped her wrist tightly and pulled her back down to the seat.

"Ouch, that hurts. What's your problem? Having your input means my grade will drop drastically which would affect my entitlement for scholarship and I am not allowing this to happen," she growled at him.

Her remarks made Cato furious as she belittled his intelligence, "Look Miss Tough and Smarty Pants, do you think you're the only one with scholarship, huh? This is equally important to me as well."

She stopped reacting after listening to him and thought to herself, "He? Scholarship?! This is something new. Perhaps, he is not that stupid Cato Ludwig I knew back when I was young."

Cato grabbed Katniss' phone which was on the table, and started to key in something in it. Moments later, his phone was ringing.

"Shit! He got my number?" she thought to herself, feeling stupid.

"Now I have your number, so I'll text you later on the venue to meet up. The time will be tentatively at 10 in the morning. If we are not in this together, I will just report this to Miss Wiress and both of us will fail in this assignment," he warned her.

"Jerk!" Katniss yelled at him.

"Or maybe a bullock?" he replied her and she was startled by the choice of word he used. It was a real spot on and she couldn't help it but to burst out laughing. Cato was intrigued with the sudden outburst which was the perfect opportunity for her to escape from the class.

It was free time for Katniss till lunch, so she headed to her room to get some rest till lunch break. She did not bother to call Gale about his absence. Before she got her cat nap, she texted Madge to meet her at cafeteria for lunch after she was done with her class.

Time passed by pretty fast, and it was already lunch break for Madge. Katniss re-braided her hair and exited her room. She saw Johanna standing by the door clad with sleeveless embellished blouse with high-waisted jeans. Very rock n roll style which suited her personality. Katniss asked her whether she would want to join her for lunch with Madge and others. Johanna agreed.

On the way to cafeteria, they met Madge who was walking with another girl. She had a girl next door looked, tall and slender. She was wearing a flower printed dress which looked really good on her. Some guys were ogling at this new girl.

"Hey Katniss. Hey Johanna. Meet my new-found friend, Annie Cresta," Madge introduced the new girl to them.

"Nice to meet you, Annie," Katniss greeted Annie while Johanna just looked at her and said, "Sup!"

They bought their food and settled in at a place near the sink area. They had no choice because the cafeteria was full.

"Hey girls, I just gotta know from my lecturer that they will be having an alumni dinner," Madge paused while looking at Katniss and Johanna. She did not bother to look at Annie because she knew about it already as they were in the same class.

"For freshman, our attendances are compulsory. They will take the attendance and check your student id. So, no escape," Madge winked at Katniss as if she knew Katniss was not interested.

Annie interrupted, "Our lecturer informed us the theme will be masquerade."

"Yeah, so if you are worried that people will notice you, fret not. Your face will be covered with mask. Awesome," Madge said while fanning herself using her left hand.

From far, Katniss could see Peeta and Gale were entering the cafeteria. She stood up and waved both of her hands. They saw her and signaled her that they would want to grab something to bite before joining the girls.

Not long after, they joined the girls' table along with another new guy. He was extremely handsome, has broad shoulders, almost as tall as Gale, muscular, athletic with tan skin, bronze-coloured hair, and has an incredible pair of sea green eyes.

"Hey everyone, this is Finnick Odair. Met him at the pool," as Gale introduced him to the girls.

"Katniss"

"Madge"

"Johanna"

Annie did not introduce herself. Finnick went to Annie's side and pecked her lightly on the cheek, "Opps, sorry if I broke any of your heart. She's my girlfriend." He smiled cheekily while Annie was blushing.

"Great, seems like everyone know each other. Let's eat!" Gale announced.

Katniss looked at Gale, "Seriously Gale, you missed class for some swimming session?"

Gale munched his tacos and answered her with his mouth full, "Ah, no worries, I actually went to the class earlier to sign on my attendance."

He continued, "So why did I screw you up?"

"Nah, I'm just messing with you," Katniss withheld herself from talking about her encounter with Cato.

Peeta was sitting beside Katniss and pulled his seat closer to her, "Bullock?"

Katniss smiled at Peeta's word. She did not realize how much has she been smiling because of Peeta.

"Katniss, the sports selection is delayed to next week. Apparently the coach has some emergency or something," Gale interrupted.

Suddenly the Madge was squealing in the background.

"Oh my god, let's go shopping for alumni dinner!" Madge suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement, even Johanna. But before Katniss could shake her head in disagreement, Madge who was sitting opposite her, placed her hands on Katniss' head and forcefully made Katniss nod.

"Cato!" a sharp seductive voice was calling Cato from behind.

Katniss looked over her shoulder to see Glimmer was running her long fingers through Cato's blonde spiky hair. She did not realize Cato was looking at her all the time. When her eyes met with Cato's, she quickly looked away and continued eating her lunch.

"Hey I think the next class is common class for freshmen. Academic writing?" Peeta claimed.

Everyone nodded. "Let's roll," Gale announced and led everyone to the next class.

They reached a tad early, so they chose an empty row which was the second row from the back.

"Excuse me, I'm going to the washroom," Katniss stood up while making her way to the washroom.

As she was walking towards the washroom, she saw someone just posted something on the bulletin board. She stopped and saw something which drawn her attention.

_Attention Students!_

_For our upcoming alumni dinner, we welcome volunteers to perform._

_As a token, we will be offering you something special. _

_For further enquiries, please drop by our administrative office._

That's when Katniss decided to make a detour to the office. As she entered the room, she saw Miss Portia was sitting at her desk. She saw Katniss was approaching her and she gave a beaming smile, "Hello dear, how I can help you?"

"Hi, Miss Portia. I saw the notice on the whole volunteer thing, I just want to know what is this something special you're offering?"

"You're Katniss Evergreen right?" Miss Portia was trying to recall her name while searching for something in her computer.

"Katniss Everdeen," she corrected her.

"So, you're doing a double major, law and sport science. Well, if you are volunteering, we will arrange an interview session as an intern in New York's well known law firm, Pearson Hardman," Miss Portia moved her attention from the computer to Katniss.

"What? You're serious? I'm volunteering," Katniss' voice was cracking.

Miss Portia smiled as she could feel Katniss' happiness. She wrote Katniss' name in a list which contained the names of students who would be volunteering.

Katniss was happy as it was her dream to have a change to work in Pearson Hardman. Pearson Hardman is a market leader in each of its core practice areas and they serve their clients around the world which excite her even more as she would love to broaden her horizon by venturing to different parts of the world.

Katniss returned to the lecture hall but the class has not started yet.

"Katniss, what took you so long?" Madge asked Katniss.

She leaned in closer and whispered to Madge's ear,"Don't you ever squeal or scream. Just act normal," Katniss paused for a moment and looked at Madge.

Madge nodded quietly and Katniss continued, "I'm volunteering to perform during alumni dinner. I know right now you are about to stand up to show how shocked and surprised you are. But look, I really do not want people to know, the reason I'm volunteering because they have a catch to it, a good catch. Plus, I remembered you mentioning earlier that it will be masquerade theme, so I could cover myself with a mask and no one will recognise me."

Katniss saw Madge was trying to churn the news broke by Katniss, "What's the catch?"

"An interview for internship in Pearson Hardman. You interested?" Katniss answered.

Madge closed both of her mouth with both of her hands, "Wow Katniss, that's great. But you know, I've no talents to show our uni-mates. Guess I shall pass this opportunity. So, there is more reason for you to shop for your stage performance. Let's do it this weekend."

Katniss shook her head slightly, "But I can't show everyone what I'm about to wear to avoid them recognizing me."

Madge winked at Katniss, "Leave this undercover business to me."

Katniss smile disappeared when she turned to her back for a while. It was Cato…again?

"Why are you following me?" Katniss hissed at him.

Her actions caused some attention with her group of friends, especially Peeta.

"Public place, common class. Do you need me to say anything more?" Cato smirked.

"Yes, missy. Please don't think highly of yourself," Glimmer continued Cato's sentence. Along with them, there were a skinny guy with short light brown hair and green eyes, and another girl with dark hair and eyes.

Out of the blue, Johanna who sat beside Katniss, turned behind and told Glimmer menacingly, "Careful there, bimbo. Try not to let your mouth goes overboard."

Class started and it was a pretty dry subject. Katniss could see Gale was nodding off. His head looked as though he was fishing for something. Madge noticed Peeta was trying to steal quick glances at Katniss. Somehow Peeta noticed Madge was looking at him, and Madge did not hesitate to mouth to Peeta, "Quit looking."

The class was pretty dreadful, two long hours without any break in between. It ended at 4 o'clock. As Katniss was packing her bag, Johanna asked, "Katniss, since the selection has been delayed, want to go for a run?"

"Yeah sure, why not. Gale are you on?" Katniss looked at Gale.

He waved his hand to her, "I'll pass, and I'm so dead tired after the swimming session with Finnick."

"Can I join?" Peeta asked which surprised Katniss. Although Peeta was a muscular guy, but she wouldn't think that he's the type of person who would go for a jog.

Johanna replied Peeta, "See you at Central Park at 6. And probably after that we could get some hot dogs for dinner."

Katniss was about to make her way out till someone blocked her way, "Excuse me, you're blocking my way."

As the guy turned around, she realized it was Cato.

"Katniss, about our assignment…" Cato looked at Katniss and saw she was holding her schedule on her right hand. He grabbed the schedule and started to scan through her schedule.

Katniss was angry at how rude he was to just snatch her schedule and went through it, "Give it back!"

Cato held the schedule high up, beyond Katniss' reach. She was jumping to grab the schedule but she failed.

Suddenly, someone just pushed Cato to the wall and grabbed the schedule from his hand. It was Peeta, Katniss' eyes bulged. The last thing Katniss could imagine Peeta as a person was him being angry.

"Stop it will you?" Peeta's voice was scary, his normal sweet voice was replaced with his anger.

But Cato just ignored him and pushed Peeta aside in order to lean in closer to Katniss, "So, based on your schedule, you're free on Friday. 10am and I will text you the venue later, be there or be square. Remember, Miss Wiress?"

Katniss just stormed out from the hall, and Peeta was about to chase her till Gale stopped him, "Hold your horses, Peet. It's better for you to leave her alone."

Peeta looked worried while seeing Katniss slowly disappearing from his sight. Madge just pulled Peeta, "You need to control yourself. Your action is so obvious. You're totally into her and you will scare her away. She told me she's not into any relationship, so please keep the funny thoughts of being with her to yourself."

Madge's words made Peeta stunned; he asked her with voice shaking slightly, "What do you mean by that?"

"Katniss told me that she is not interested in being in love, ever since her father passed away. I shouldn't be telling you but I don't want to lose her as a friend again. So, if you really like her, I beg you to start controlling your emotion," Madge's voice was quivering.

"You get me wrong Madge. Never in my life could I ever imagine her being in love me. It's the last thing in the world to see her hurt. I just want to protect her, that's all," Peeta's bright blue eyes darken.

Both of them went on silence, not knowing what to continue.

Days went on till it reached Friday morning.

Katniss' body was flinching in her bed and screaming in terror. Different images of her father's death began flashing in her mind. She felt herself suffocated, and then she jolted up from her sleep.

She heard someone was knocking frantically at her door, "Katniss, Katniss? You're alright?"

Katniss was still catching her breath and did not answer. Suddenly the door broke open. It was Gale, Peeta and Johanna.

Peeta ran straight to Katniss' side and sat by the bed. His hands were touching her face, "Katniss, are you okay?"

Katniss looked at Peeta, his blue eyes were sparkling and she could see his eyes were pretty damped. She realized he was touching her and it felt so right when they were on her face. She felt a warm sensation and comfort in his touch. But she brushed the feelings off and pulled herself back.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. I was just worried," Peeta apologized as he thought his touch made her uncomfortable.

"It's okay. It's just nightmare everyone. Gale should be used to it by now," Katniss explained while forcing a smile.

Gale sighed and walked in closer to her while touching her hair, "Catnip, after all these years, I'm still not used to it. Everytime you had nightmare, it freaks me out. It seemed like you will never wake up from it."

"Yeah, Katniss, you looked like you were having a spasm," Johanna shrugged her shoulders while leaning her back against the wall. She was always the person who didn't know how to express her concern, but Katniss understood her pretty well.

"Okay, okay. Quit worrying about me, next time I will not lock my door when I sleep alright?" Katniss looked at everyone for approval.

"Wow, what an improvement Katniss. You're finally opening up to accept help from others," Gale patted her back lightly.

That remark made by Gale led to Katniss' next words, "That's to avoid you guys damaging my door again."

"Yeah right," Gale rolled his eyes.

"Katniss, you better get ready for your so-called assignment," Johanna pointed at the clock and it showed 10 in the morning.

Katniss panicked as she knew she was late for the meeting with Cato. She jumped into a quick shower and quickly slipped into a pair of denim shorts matched with a coral tone button-down boyfriend shirt. Since the library would be a bit chilly, she grabbed her forest-green cardigan which was given by Prim.

As she headed to the library, she got a phone call from an unknown number,

"Hello?"

"Are you coming or what?" a familiar male voice on the other line.

"Erh, going where?" Katniss asked.

"Maybe you suppose to meet me at the café outside our campus," he replied her.

"Wait, who's this?"

"Your so-called bullock?"

Katniss laughed at those words and she knew it was Cato but she stopped as she felt disgusted to even allow him to hear her laughter. She cleared her throat, "Café? I thought we are going to the library?"

"Says who?" Cato questioned her diligently.

"Says you!" Katniss answered him right away.

"No, I told you I will message you the venue right?" Cato exclaimed.

Katniss went silent as she knew he was right.

" I'm here already, I actually texted you yesterday night on the venue but you did not reply." Cato continued.

"Okay, I'll be there," Katniss mumbled.

She ended the call and saw her phone indeed had one text message from him. She paced herself quickly to the café.

At the café, everytime the door opens, the chimes made a serene sound. And everytime anyone entered the café, Cato stretched his head out to check whether Katniss had arrived. After several random strangers entered the café, Cato became restless and started fiddling his cell phone. Not long after, Katniss entered the café but Cato did not realize it. She was looking around and saw Cato was sitting on the couch at the corner of the café. She turned to the counter attendant and ordered herself a cup of black coffee.

Cato heard some whistles from some random guys sitting near his place. He looked at them and saw their eyes were looking at the same direction. As he followed the direction of their eyes, he saw it was Katniss who stood at the counter. Her denim shorts complimented her long legs and her long dark hair was not tied in her usual braids. She looked different.

"Miss, here you go. One black coffee."

Katniss grabbed the cup and headed towards Cato's direction. When she was walking to the seat next to Cato's, almost every guy in the café let out a low whistle and their eyes were flitting up. She was wondering why they were whistling, so she looked around and so happened, there was a redhead who wore a white bandeau mini dress entered into the café.

"Ah, so that's why," she whispered to herself.

Cato was observing the guys and he did not know why he felt a bit agitated. Katniss placed her coffee on the table.

"Why are you looking so uptight?" Katniss said awkwardly.

No answer from Cato. He was still looking at the guys who kept on staring at her. He gave them some killer stares as he found them very disturbing. After a while, they stopped staring at her.

"Hello," Katniss was waving at him which startled him.

"What?" he snapped.

She looked around saw the redhead was still there and she thought he snapped at her cause she disturbed his eye ogling session.

"Okay, sorry that I disturbed your dirty thoughts with that redhead over there, but we're here for our assignment. If you keep on staring at any chicks coming into this café like any other guys here, we should just do it in the library or better still, we can split," Katniss said sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

Cato smiled to himself and shook his head as he thought to himself that she had no idea what was really going on, "I'm not looking at that plastic, it's a waste of time. Why are you late?"

"Oh about that…I was having some nightmare and I just couldn't wake up till my friends woke me…" her voice fainted towards the end as she felt that she made a mistake by revealing too much to people and especially to Cato.

Cato leaned in closer to her and he looked eager to know what she wanted to say next, "Go on."

"Nothing, I just overslept. That's all," Katniss cut the conversation short which made Cato rather pissed by her words. He flung his back to the seat and folded his arms.

"Shall we just start?" Katniss suggested but she looked confused at Cato's response.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

Both of them were discussing about the pointers for their assignment. They were needed to come up with a thesis and to create a short power point slides for presentation purpose. Miss Wiress gave her students the freedom to choose their desired topics as long as it was under the sport injuries. They laid out few topics like hamstring pull, sprains, concussion but they couldn't seem to agree on anything.

"These are just too common and boring. It's like maybe 2 or 3 teams will surely choose one of these," Katniss sighed.

Cato nodded in agreement and sipped his ice blended mocha, "Okay, since you and I are into sports, let's think the injuries we have experienced before. Maybe something that is still bothering us or bothered us for a very long time. Sounds good?"

Katniss was amazed with his idea but she did not want to show it because it came from Cato's brain, so she just answered him quickly, "Ok."

Few minutes later, both of them seemed to have decided on their topic. Cato broke the silence and said, "Judging by your look, I think you have something on your mind already. And I have mine too."

Katniss nodded lightly. Cato continued, "Let's write them down on a piece of paper and see the brilliant ideas we have on our mind."

They scribbled something short and revealed their idea at the same time. Both of them looked at each other's paper and it was,

**Sciatic Nerve Injury**

"O…kay, that's just plain creepy," Katniss' eyes were still on the two pieces of paper.

"Damn, Katniss. You have that too? It's irritating right? Felt it at my lower back whenever I stretched my body," Cato's blue eyes were staring into hers.

She was staring at his eyes and began to think to herself, "Cato the cold-hearted bullock is looking friendly and there's warmth in him. Bleargh, warm? Shut it, Katniss. He's still the same old Cato. He is just pretending to be nice."

"Yeah, I have it too," Katniss answered coldly.

Her short answer put Cato off, "If you are just going to continue to shut me off with your rather unresponsive feedback, we can't get any pointers for our assignment."

That statement made Katniss straighten her back. She knew that she wanted to excel in this assignment. So, she lied, "Okay, sorry. My mind was just thinking about all the possible pointers for our new-found topic."

They exchanged conversation and shared their experience. Katniss realized they spent almost two hours discussing about their assignment because she finished her coffee. She looked at her phone to see the time while Cato was observing her.

"Let's take a break and grab something to bite for lunch?" Cato looked at the counter.

Both of them went to the counter and were looking at the menu. Katniss was looking at the pies in the display and she was eyeing on the shepherd's pie. Right before she ordered her food, the door chime made the serene sound and she couldn't help it but to look who was coming into the café.

To her surprise, not one but there were two kids, maybe at the age of 6 or 7 entered the café. They looked like they were homeless because they were wearing shabby clothes. It was quite a rare sight to see kids in this area to clad with such outfit. Katniss saw one of them, a little girl with dark brown skin and eyes was carrying a donation box. The little girl approached Katniss with a beaming smile, a smile that melted Katniss' heart instantly.

"Donation to Hope and Faith Orphanage, pwease?" the little girl's brown eyes were full of hope when she asked Katniss.

Without hesitation, Katniss took out all the money from her purse and donated 50 dollars.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the little girl jumped with joy.

Katniss was smiling at her the little girl's reaction, she lowered herself to be at the same level as the little girl, "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Rue," she smiled sheepishly.

"Well hello there, Rue. What a lovely name you have," Katniss played with Rue's thick dark hair.

Rue giggled at Katniss' compliment but she stopped when she heard her friend was screaming.

"Don't stop," a boy was screaming and laughing hysterically.

Katniss turned to the boy and saw Cato was carrying the boy. He started to turn him around and made the boy even more excited. Cato was laughing happily too which was quite an odd sight for Katniss. She would never imagine Cato was very ecstatic with a kid in his arms. All she could remember was him torturing her when they were young.

She thought to herself, "How could he possibly love kids, but he doesn't look like he is being pretentious. He looks as if he is almost content with the boy."

Katniss stopped her thoughts when she felt someone was pulling her hand.

"Miss pweety, are you willing to follow us back to the orphanage? Miss Mags will love to see you," Rue's voice was full of enthusiasm which made Katniss' heart moved by her pleading. Katniss turned to Cato who was already looking at her and he answered Rue on behalf of Katniss, "Yep, we would love too!"

They quickly packed up their things and followed the kids to their orphanage. On the way to the orphanage, Rue was trying to ask for donation and it broke Katniss' heart to see kids at Rue's age were having a tough life.

Cato pulled Rue and looked at her, "Rue, right?"

Rue nodded lightly.

"Here, 100 dollars. Stop asking for donation alright?" Cato gave her a warm smile.

Rue smiled from ear to ear, "You are so kind!"

Cato held her hand and continued the walk to the orphanage. It was not a long walk, they reached the orphanage in 20 minutes. Rue let go Cato's hand, handed the donation box to the boy and ran straight to a room. It looked like an office and there was a name hanging by the door which said "Mags Cohen".

When Cato and Katniss entered the room, they saw an old woman with paper-white hair and Rue was standing beside her. The lady introduced herself, "Hello young ones. I'm Mags Cohen but you can call me Mags. Rue told me both of you are nice people."

There was a silence in the room. Mags told Rue to leave the room for a while in order for her to have a small chat with Cato and Katniss.

"So, I'm not exactly sure what brought you here. What did you do to make Rue said that?" Mags was frowning.

Katniss felt angry because she did not like the idea of using kids to beg for money, especially when they were under the care of a children's home. So, she answered Mags with brassy tone, "What kind of caretaker are you to ask the kids to ask for donation across the street? Aren't you supposed to take care of them instead of using them as free labour to get money?"

Cato was stunned by Katniss' words but he did not say anything. He looked at Mags, and her face was surprised and hurt.

"Do-nation?" Mags stammered.

Katniss was taken aback with Mags' reply as she felt that Mags had no idea about it, "You didn't know?"

Mags shook her head, "These kids are not even allowed to roam outside freely. For them to actually go outside and asked for donation, that is a shocker."

Mags called Rue into the room and questioned her with a concerned look, "My dear, I heard from this young couple that you were out at the streets, asking for donation."

Katniss' eyes widen at Mags description of she and Cato being the young couple, and she couldn't help it but to scoff.

Rue started to sob a little, "I'm sorry. I was just trying to help…"

Mags hugged Rue and whispered to her, "Don't be silly, dear. It's too dangerous outside. You are lucky to stumble upon this young couple. Now, give the money back to them."

The boy who was peeping outside the door, walked into the office. He looked guilty and hurt while carrying the donation box.

Cato quickly told Mags, "No, we are not accepting the money back. Take it as an official donation to this home."

Mags' eyes litted up as if she heard the greatest news, "You are so generous. No wonder Rue mentioned that you two were kind."

Rue and the boy went to Cato and Katniss and hugged their thighs.

"Okay, kids, time for lunch," Mags announced.

She turned to Cato and Katniss, "I would love to bring you around but I'm pretty tied down with my chores here."

Katniss couldn't help it but to ask her, "There's no one else here to help you?"

Mags gave her a sad smile, "In this home, there is only one volunteer and me. Lately, the fund has stopped coming in and we even have to fork out our own money to sustain this home."

She paused and looked around the room, "But I really not sure how long more can we sustain. I just love these kids and it breaks me if this home shut down. The kids will be separated and send to other homes. It will make them devastated as they grew fond of each other."

Cato and Katniss felt sorry for her and couldn't find the right words to comfort her.

"Anyway, do drop by when you are free. Rue and the rest will love you here," Mags broke the sappy atmosphere.

When they exited the home, Katniss' stomach growled which was loud enough for Cato to hear it. He chuckled, "Someone's hungry. Aren't we supposed to grab something to bite? … Oh right, we are broke now cause we were being 'robbed' by those small 'thieves'."

Katniss blushed because Cato heard her stomach growling, "But I forgotten to bring my ATM card. Can we return to our campus in order for me to get my card from my room?"

"Nah, I don't think it is necessary. I can buy you lunch. Just need to withdraw some money," Cato was flashing his ATM card.

"I don't take charity," Katniss answered quickly.

"Take it as a loan then," Cato walked away and headed towards the nearest ATM.

The rest of the day was spent in Mcdonalds where they could continue their discussion and they called it a day around 6 in the evening.

"So, next Monday?" Cato asked.

"Yes sure, and this time it will be library," Katniss exclaimed.

"Around 5?" Cato asked further.

"Deal!"

Katniss packed a double quarter pounder with cheese set for her dinner before headed back to the campus. When she reached her room, she looked for her ipod. She slipped the earphones into her ears and searched her playlist to The Fray. As the song "How to Save A Life" was playing in her head, she thought about how eventful her day was.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone. I've been pretty busy with my schedule. Just to let you know, my updates will be probably once a week. However, if I manage to find some time during the weekdays, I might just slot in one or two chapters. That's depending on how much of reviews. Lesser reviews mean lesser chance that I will update often.**

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**I hope this chapter will not let you all down.**

**Enjoy!R&R!**

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Chapter 9

Since the first discussion between Katniss and Cato, Katniss was juggling with her busy schedules. She needed to practice her performance for the alumni dinner and prepared her assignments through multiple discussions with Cato. Despite the many encounters with Cato, Katniss tried to keep herself distance from him. Every time Cato wanted to create conversation besides the assignment; she would just brush them off.

Also, she was selected in the athlete team along with Gale, Cato, Johanna, Glimmer and two of Cato's cliques which she saw them briefly during in the academic writing class. With the selection, she dedicated her spare time on every weekday evening to train her stamina and agility with Coach Thresh and the rest of the team mates.

It was two days before the alumni dinner, and Katniss started to feel nervous. She was practising her vocal in front of her room's mirror but she somehow couldn't get the rhythm right.

"Katniss, you can do this. It's something you've been doing in the bathroom, in the car, when you are jogging, when you are strolling and this alumni dinner performance, should be peanuts," Katniss looked at the mirror, trying to convince herself but she did not sound optimistic.

She continued to practise and stopped after few seconds as she felt out of tune. She slumped herself onto her bed and pulled her hair, "Argh, I can't do this."

Feeling stress from her failure attempt to reach the perfect note, she changed her shorts to long sweat pants and grabbed her black sports jacket to go for a walk. Before she headed out, she took her iPod as music relaxed her.

She was strolling at the park near her campus and the song "Valerie" by The Zutton was playing in her iPod. She felt cheery when the song was playing. Her blood was rushing and her limbs were starting to move subconsciously. She was happily singing and dancing to the song. Unbeknownst to her, Peeta was lying on the grass while watching her quietly. Katniss was kicking her leg back and forth when the song reached the chorus. She was swirling around and caught a familiar pair of glistening blue eyes was watching her.

Mortified, she gasped and her whole body froze. Peeta realized she noticed him and he quickly got up from his position. He brushed the grass which were sticking on his clothes and started to approach her.

Katniss tried to cover up her embarrassment, started to turn away from Peeta and tried to pretend nothing had happened.

"Hey, Katniss, wait," Peeta was calling her from the back.

She started to speed walk and ignored him. Peeta ran towards her and caught up with her.

"Please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you. I was just lying on the grass till you came. And urm, I saw you looked happy. I didn't want to take it away from you, so I tried to remain stealth," Peeta looked sorry.

Katniss did not meet his gaze as she still felt embarrassed, "It's fine."

Peeta leaned in closer to her and his hand automatically reached her chin and started to turn her head in order for her to look at him, "Katniss, you sang and danced really well. And hey, I was getting free entertainment by watching you secretly."

He let go off her chin without giving her time to react to his sudden gesture but she chuckled lightly because of his last sentence.

"How much did you watch?" she asked.

"Hmm, let's see probably I think the entire thing," he took a step back and folded his firmed arms.

"Hey, then you'd better be paying me a lot," Katniss joked with him.

Peeta was looking at her up and down and stopped, "Okay, pass me your iPod."

Katniss looked slightly confused but she still handed him her iPod. He was fiddling with her iPod and started to scroll for songs. He unplugged the earphones from the iPod and placed the iPod on the grass.

As the music started, Katniss recognised the song and it was "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Suddenly, Peeta ran far away from Katniss and his head was facing down. Almost immediately, he looked up at her while trying to give her a terrifying zombie eyes. He started to shake his head to the left and centre while his left shoulder was twitching as if he was evolving into a zombie. When Michael Jackson started to sing in the background, he turned his body sideway and lifted his right hand on the air while the left is at the bottom which looked as it was a downward trend line. He wiggled his hips forward and back while stepping nearer to her. He stepped out with his right foot and did a fan motion with his arms and again moved in nearer to her. He then flipped around 180 degrees and did the fan motion by stepping out his left foot. He then made a move as if he broke his back and did a robot dance. He jumped around 180 degrees again and started to do a pelvic rest dance. Followed by him shaking his butt left and right vigorously towards the left side with his head shaking and ended with a clap on air. He repeated the step by leaning from left to the right side and clapped. Then he used his left leg as a support and placed his right hand on his right thigh and slowly motioned to his back. Before he moved further away from her, he placed both of his hands on his thigh and looked back at her while giving her a wink. With his hands were still intact on his thighs, he moved further away from her. He turned to her again, and started to walk nearer to her while doing a diva dance and snapping his fingers.

Katniss was laughing hard and she had to use the tree beside her as a support because her stomach hurts badly. She was amused with his dance and she knew the chorus was coming in. She felt that it was her cue for her to join him and started to stand side by side with him. She turned her body sideways and started to lift both of her hands while making a gesture as if she was clawing onto something. She started to move and dance sideways with her imaginary claws, switching left and right while grooving to the song.

They repeatedly moved their hips, hands, heads and any parts of their body. They were smiling all the way while dancing to the song. When the song finished, Katniss accidentally tripped on a fallen tree trunk and Peeta automatically pulled her into his arms to avoid her from falling the ground.

There was an awkward moment when she stumbled into his arms. They were looking at each other, breathing heavily due to the dance they shared earlier. Despite the sky was dark, his deep blue eyes were penetrating into her eyes with a look of concern. Katniss felt the same warmth when he touched her during the nightmare where he tried to wake her up.

Her eyes bulged and she dropped her hands from his arms, "Urm, I can actually balance myself even though you did not save me."

Peeta smiled as he knew Katniss was always the tough girl and did not want to perceive herself as a weakling, "I know you could, but I just wanted to be the hero."

Initially Katniss felt strange when she felt his touch was rather comforting, but her thoughts were distracted by Peeta's sense of humour to light up the atmosphere.

" I'm grateful," suddenly Katniss had spoken up.

"Hey, I thought you just said that…" Peeta's words got cut off when Katniss shook her head.

"No, it's not because you saved me from falling, like I said, I could have managed it. It's just that I was feeling stress out before I decided to come here a walk," she paused for a while when she thought she heard some rustling sound behind her.

"You heard that?" Katniss was pointing at the bushes where she felt the source of the rustling sound came from there.

"Maybe it's just some cats," Peeta assured her.

He continued, "So you were saying that you were feeling stress?"

"Yeah, about that… I was. But I felt a whole lot better when you suddenly appeared and started to do the dance out of the blue. And man, you were a pretty good dancer," Katniss chuckled.

Peeta blushed when Katniss complimented him, "Nah, I am not as good as you think. It's just that I am like you. Besides painting, I find myself de-stressing when I dance."

"Oh, you paint?" Katniss' voice was surprised.

"Yeah, why not?" Peeta asked with much curiosity.

Katniss giggled a little and shook her head lightly, "I just thought that you have some Vincent Van Gogh's talent in you."

Peeta playfully showed her the look as if he was hurt by her statement, "Ouch, but may I ask why?"

"Nah, cause you have those big biceps and pretty boy look, so I thought that you are the type of guy who probably enjoys body building and a little narcissistic," Katniss answered him.

Peeta's raised on oh his eyebrows, looking almost serious, "So you like this biceps and the pretty look?"

Katniss regretted that she said too much. She was thinking on what she was supposed to say in order for him not get any funny idea, "No…it's just that…"

Peeta burst out into laughter, "Take a chill pill, Katniss. I was just pulling your legs."

Katniss punched his stomach a little, "Don't you dare pull that stunt on me again, Mister!"

"All for a good laugh," Peeta's bright smile made Katniss' anger swept away.

"C'mon, let's go, it's getting late already and I'm pretty tired after that dance," Katniss suggested.

Both of them walked back to the campus and continued their little conversation. When they reached the campus, both of them stopped at their track.

"So, I shall see you around?" Peeta smiled shyly at Katniss.

She nodded, "Good night, Peeta. Thanks for the night."

"I had a lot of fun, good night Katniss," Peeta beamed.

As Katniss walked to her room, she realized her iPod wasn't in her pocket. She stopped and started to search in her pocket but to no avail. She thought that probably Peeta took it accidentally. As and when she was about to turn around to go to Peeta's room, she heard someone's footsteps. Katniss was smiling to herself as she thought it was Peeta, but when she turned around she saw it was Cato.

"Looking for something?" Cato smirked.

"None of your business," Katniss answered him abruptly.

Cato walked nearer to her and now they were like one foot apart, "Why are you acting so cold? Aren't we a partner?

She did not move back, she just stood at her position, "That doesn't mean we are close."

Her stingy words made Cato felt a little agitated, "Are you trying to tell me, the amount of time we have spent with each other means nothing to you? At least you can see me as a friend?"

"Friend? You must be kidding me. You are not even close to acquaintance to me," Katniss hissed while trying to shove Cato aside as she wanted to see Peeta to retrieve her iPod.

Cato blocked her way, "Where do you think you are going?"

Katniss did not answer him and was trying to move away from his tall muscular body. Cato was still trying to block her whenever she tried to move away from him which made Katniss' boiling point started to build up. She glared at him with so much fire in her eyes, "What's your problem?"

Cato took something from his left side pocket and at the same time, he held her hand which made Katniss startled. She began to fight back and tried to move her hand away but Cato was too strong. He handed her iPod.

Katniss was confused and as much she was really curious to know how he found them, she did not want to create any further conversation with him. She turned away from him and started to walk away from him. Cato held her shoulder to refrain her from leaving and turned her to face him once again.

"I handed your iPod, aren't you suppose to show your gratitude?" Cato gave her a cocky stare.

Katniss felt disgusted, "Maybe you stole it from Peeta and pretended as if you found it."

Her accusing words made Cato's blood pumped and he started clenching his fist. Katniss saw it, "So what now, you are trying to punch and hurt me like how you did last time?"

"What? Punched you? Hurt you?" Cato's voice was breaking and he let go of his own fists.

Katniss tried to move away to avoid spilling too much but yet again Cato stopped her from doing so. With his persistent action, she snapped, "Oh yes, Cato Ludwig. You heard me. Have you forgotten how many times you punched me, kicked me, tormented my childhood life. How much more you want to haunt me?"

Cato's face turned sad and he started to lean in closer to her, "Katniss, I…"

She felt mixed emotions. She felt angry because he seemed oblivious after what he had done to her. She felt hurt because she was thinking of the times he abused her despite her not doing anything to him till she deserved to be treated like a thrash when she was young. She was scared because she was traumatised with the constant abuse when she was young. She was relieved as though her burden had left her chest. Her body started to shake a little. Her tears were about to spill over and she tried to avoid looking at him. She was trying to hold back the tears but she started to think all the awful things she had to go through when she was young. The fact that the person who abused her was standing in front of her, she could not help it but to feel so much hurt he had imprinted on her.

Cato's hand tried to reach her cheek as he saw a tear rolled from her eyes but she moved back and wiped the tear on her own, "Just stay out of my life."

After she uttered the last statement, she just dashed out from him. Cato did not make any chase as he was too shocked at the intense confrontation. He just stood still while watching Katniss disappearing from his sight.

"Katniss…" Cato whispered to himself.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the long hiatus. I went for a long holiday. First of all Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year wishes to all of you!**

**I got to know from someone that one of the followers here used some of the ideas I wrote in chapter 2 as their first chapter. The person even told me the name of the story and the author but I am not willing to disclose it here. I am not upset though, maybe the person just needed some inspiration to kick start his/her story and I'm glad if that chapter helped the person a lot.**

**Anyway, there will be a lot of mistakes in this chapter as it is the longest chapter ever written by me.**

**To those readers who PM-ed me to update this story, I was really touched. But I am not sure how often I am going to update though because my holiday is coming to an end. **

**Love you all! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 10

It was the day. The day where all the freshman would gather to mingle among themselves and also with their seniors.

It was 12 o'clock in the afternoon when Katniss heard her phone vibrated. She reached to her phone and saw there were few messages from Madge.

**M: Morning sunshine. Are you ready for your big day?**

**M: Hello... wanna grab breakkie together?**

**M: It's 11 and no reply? Hello…am I talking to myself.**

**M: BABE! WAKE UP! ALUMNI DINNER…COSTUMES? Ring any bell?**

Katniss bolted from her bed when she saw the last message from Madge, "Shoot, it's 12 o'clock. Oh my god…"

She ran to the bathroom to get herself ready. She started dialing Madge's number,

"Well, hello sloth," Madge answered the phone sarcastically.

"Madge, I am so screwed. I haven't chosen the right song for the dinner. I have no idea on my dress. My mind begins to shut down; I can't think…I am officially freaking out."

"Woh woh woh, this is the first time I am hearing you freaking out. You are in luck. I called Johanna earlier on and she agreed to bring you to town and meet me to shop for your dress," Madge tried to calm Katniss down.

"You what? Oh my, you are my savior," Katniss sighed in relief.

"I know right. See you in a bit," Madge giggled playfully.

Time was running out, so Katniss went to her wardrobe to find something to slip on.

"I suggest you wear one-piece clothes," Johanna appeared behind Katniss.

Katniss gave her a questioning look and was wondering why Johanna gave her that piece of advice.

"Look Honey, you are going shopping, but hey, you are running out of time, so I dunno, maybe some one-piece clothes would definitely cut short your changing time."

That statement made Katniss beamed. As she was about to continue her search, Johanna stopped her, "Quit looking will you. Madge asked me to pass you this."

Johanna pulled something from her back and it was a winter white chiffon shift dress, "Oh and by the way, before you tried to show any disgusted look on your face…" Johanna paused a moment while opening a note from her back pocket.

Johanna read the note aloud, "Look at the brighter side, the dress is not too bad, it has round neckline, and it is shift dress which means it is not tight-fitting. Hence, it does not make you look like a_** S asterisks asterisks asterisks**_. Also, it is not too puffy; hence, it does not make you look too feminine. So quit ranting and just slip on this dress. XOXO Madge."

Johanna put the note down and she muttered to herself, "Ughh, I can't believe I just said XOXO. Sounds so bimbo."

Katniss was laughing by the time Johanna finished reading the note, "Madge knew me too well. She knew how I loathe wearing a dress. And Johanna, thank you very much and I really appreciate your sacrifices."

Katniss grabbed the dress and quickly changed to the outfit chosen by Madge and in less than a minute, she was all set. She did not tie her hair in her usual braid as she had no time for it.

"All set Fire Girl?" Johanna's voice was deep.

They headed to the town with Johanna's black naked bike. They met up with Madge and the mission to hunt for Katniss' dress began. Madge did not allow Katniss to give any opinion on her future dress because Katniss' selection would be just something dull and too predictable.

It was the 10th store the three girls visited and Katniss was at a brink of giving up, "You know what, I think I will just wear this white dress which Madge borrowed me. I can just get a mask, and walaaa, a costume."

"Oh no no no, don't you ever think about that. This is going to be our one and only alumni dinner as freshman. I'm not letting you attend that dinner without any effort," Madge told Katniss off while looking through the racks of clothes in the store.

Johanna was also looking around the store and nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, both Johanna and Madge stopped their tracked and grabbed the exact same dress. Both of them look at each other and knew that dress was a winner.

* * *

Back in the campus, Gale and Peeta were working out in the gym. Peeta was doing sit ups while Gale was doing push up.

"So, all set for the alumni?" Peeta asked Gale when he lifted his body to the knee for his 45th sit up.

"Of course, can't wait to see hot chicks clad in low-cut dresses," Gale was grinning to himself which made Peeta felt uncomfortable.

Gale was surprised with Peeta's expression, "Oh c'mon, bro. Aren't you excited?"

Before Peeta could answer, Gale gasped, "Oh my god, are you gay?"

"Hell no!" Peeta shouted and stopped doing his sit ups.

Gale stopped doing his push ups as well and headed to the weight section to get some dumbbells, "Well, then what? You have eyes on someone already?"

Peeta's already red cheek flushed even further when Gale said that. Gale took the opportunity and went closer to Peeta, "Who's that girl? Is she hot? Is she from here? Do I know her?

Peeta smiled and shook his head, "I am not telling."

"Hah! Means I know the girl," Gale gave Peeta a cheeky smile.

"Cut it, dude. I'm not telling," Peeta pushed Gale aside lightly and grab his water bottle.

Gale was rubbing his chin, trying to give a hard thought. He quietly sneaked behind Peeta and whispered, "Catnip?"

Peeta froze in his track, and he blushed even harder.

"You have eyes on my best friend? How dare you?" Gale head locked Peeta.

"No…I..I..." Peeta was running out of breath which made Gale loosen his grip but Gale did not let Peeta go until he got some answers from Peeta. Every time when Peeta tried to escape, Gale would tighten his grip.

"Speak up," Gale's tone was angry and loosen his grip once again in order to allow Peeta to answer him.

"I was just trying to say, look at me. Who are you kidding? Me and her? It is a total insult for her to be with me," Peeta lied.

Gale let go of Peeta completely and asked Peeta again, "So the girl is Katniss, huh?"

Peeta tried to give him an emotionless face, "Nope."

"You are such a terrible liar. You are so into her. Chill, bro. I was just messing with you by pretending to be angry," Gale was laughing out loud on the gym floor.

"What? No, I am into her…no I mean I am not into her," Peeta stuttered.

"Look, Peet. Katniss is a great girl. And you mentioned it is an insult for her…you are so wrong. You are one of the nicest guys I have ever met. Most of the guys who were chasing Katniss were douche bags. Thank God, she was not interested in dating any of them. So, if you are really interested in her, you have my approval, bro." Gale gave a pat on Peeta's shoulder.

Peeta smiled to himself but he was still trying to conceal the truth, "I appreciate your support, but I am really not into…"

Gale cut him off, "Bla bla bla, there's nothing to prove to me. Don't worry, I won't say anything to her. But a piece of advice, go slow with her. She really doesn't like the idea of having any relationship."

Gale's statement made Peeta went silent. He did not want to explain further as Gale did not want to hear any further. Peeta continued his exercise while thinking what Katniss was doing at this moment.

* * *

It was an hour before the alumni dinner. Madge and Annie crashed in Katniss' room to get ready.

"Sigh, I am still indecisive on the song choice," Katniss told both of the girls while looking through her iPod.

Madge stopped fixing her make up and sat beside Katniss on the bed, "Close your eyes, and randomly choose a song. You have a fantastic voice to pull any song."

Katniss shook her head, "But I am not feeling it. When that happens, I will sing like a toad."

"Choose something that you're comfortable with. Something that you know the song by your heart," Johanna appeared at Katniss' room door. She was ready. She wore a strapless chiffon dress featuring a black faux leather corset bodice with a spiked sweetheart neckline. The dress has maroon high-low hemline. The black and maroon dress complemented her tattoo on her shoulder pretty well. She paired the dress with ankle boots which suited her style.

"Wow, Johanna…your outfit really rock your persona," Katniss complimented her.

Johanna folded her arms, "Yeah right…"

"Katniss is not lying. You sure pull that dress very well," Annie added in.

Johanna couldn't help it but let out a small smile. However, she quickly changed to her serious outlook but Katniss managed to observe her entirely.

"Hey Katniss, your phone is ringing," Madge was pointing at Katniss' phone.

Katniss took her phone and saw it was her baby sister, Prim who was calling her, "Hello, little duck!"

"Katnissssssssssssssssssss," Prim was squealing on the other line which made Katniss had to put the phone away from her ear. When Katniss heard the squealing stopped, she pulled the phone nearer to her ear again.

"How are you doing, Katniss? How's your preparation?" Prim's voice was excited.

Katniss' face turned white as she was not prepared, "Prim, I'm screwed. It's 45 minutes to the dinner, and I have not choose my song."

"What? Okay, Katniss, you are freaking out and that's not a good sign. Close your eyes, and take a deep breath," Prim was trying to calm Katniss down and it certainly helped her a little.

Prim continued, "Remember last year when I was down because I was not chosen to be the Cinderella in my school play and I started to think the drama teacher did not like me. I was younger back then and I thought the whole world was against me. You did not laugh at me, but instead you reminded me that I was not alone."

"How can I laugh at my baby sister? You were going through a phase of growing up. I remember I was singing to you Love on Top by Beyonce," Katniss started to smile even wider when she reminisce the past.

"Yes, and in the end, I was singing along with you and both of us was doing the moves like how Beyonce did in the music video. You were natural," Prim was giggling on the other line.

Katniss had a light bulb moment, "Prim, I love you so much. You have inspired me at the right time. I should have called you earlier."

"But you did not. In the end, I called you. Please take a picture of your outfit that you are wearing right now."

Prim's words made Katniss realized that she had not changed. She looked into the mirror, and she was still in her shorts and black tank top, "Uh oh, I haven't changed…"

"No way. You better dress up now! I'm hanging up now. Don't forget…picture."

Before Katniss hanged up, "I promise. Love you baby sis."

Katniss quickly jumped to the shower. After Katniss finished showering, the three girls asked Katniss to sit in front of the dressing table to prep her up.

"Remember girls, do not go overboard…" Katniss warned them.

* * *

There were so many students outside the hall by 7.30 in the evening. The hall was decorated with vibrant and saturated colours. The hall was splashed with peacock blue, emerald and gold. The high ceilings made the hall looked grand. The chandelier in the hall made the masquerade theme even more believable.

Students thronged the hall in stylish outfits and glamorous masks for the alumni dinner. With the masks adorned with feathers and glittery accessories, the students waltzed into the hall. Peeta and Gale was already in the ball. Peeta wore a sharp one-button peak lapel tuxedo and a classic white evening shirt with a black neck tie and black jade cufflinks. He wore a Venetian mask with music notes and gold stucco that covered only his eyes. Gale on the other hand wore a classic tuxedo with glittering gold cufflinks. His choice of mask was Casanova Venetian Tricorn which covered his entire face. Both of them were searching for familiar figures.

The three girls, Madge, Johanna and Annie were walking hand in hand to the hall. Gale could instantly recognised Johanna's tattoo. He elbowed Peeta and signalled him that he found some familiar figures.

"Hello, Madame…" Gale bowed down playfully and offered his hand to the girls.

The girls were giggling except Johanna. Madge held his hand, "Gale…"

Gale was surprised on how Madge was able to recognise him, "How do you know is me? There are a lot of people around here who are about the same height as me."

"Katniss told us, if there is any guy who approaches us and wears a Casanova mask, it should be you," Madge giggled.

Gale knew exactly why Katniss said so because he was indeed a player ever since high school. Peeta on the other hand was still looking around as he realized Katniss was not with them. Gale saw Peeta's anxiety, "Speaking of Katniss, where is she?"

Madge was quiet right after Gale asked that question because Katniss warned them not to reveal anything about her performance.

"Katniss, she's still in the room. She was too shy to get ready in front of us. She did not want us to see how she looks like. Gale, I think you should know that she is always not comfortable to wear a dress, and let alone a long evening gown. She said she will reveal herself to us when she is comfortable enough," Johanna managed to lie effortlessly.

Gale nodded silently in agreement.

* * *

Katniss was already at the backstage. No one could recognised her except for Madge, Johanna, Annie and Miss Portia (because she was managing the event) as she was clad with a black lace masquerade masks with black Marabou feathers sit to the side along with faux cabochon. She was sitting alone in the changing room. It was odd not to see anyone else because she was not the first to perform, she was the third performer.

The emcees for the masquerade ball were Finnick and a girl named Delly Cartwright who had bubbly personality. They awed the crowd as soon as they appeared on stage with their sense of humour. After the opening speech by the founder of the Capitol University, Coriolanus Snow, the lecturers, staffs and students were treated to a scrumptious 5-course dinner.

Peeta was feeling restless as he could not recognise Katniss, "Hey Gale, do you think Katniss is around? I mean, dinner is served and I'm not sure if she is here to eat them. Will she be hungry? Should I keep some for her?

Gale smirked, "Peet, don't worry about it comes to her stomach, she will nurture them with tender, love and care."

* * *

While at the backstage, Katniss could feel her stomach was growling vigorously, "When will the first performance ever start."

Right after she asked herself that, the evening's performances kicked off with a male performer who was wearing a one-button peaked lapel and shawl collar. Katniss went out from the changing room to peep on the performance. She could instantly tell the male performer was Cato as he was wearing the Phantom of the Opera Italian mask which covered left side of his face only.

She started having flashback on what happened two nights before, where she told him to stay out from her life after she confronted him that he was the guy that tormented her childhood life. She couldn't help herself but to feel a little hurt from the confrontation. She couldn't understand why she felt that way. To avoid herself feeling such, she turned away and walked towards the changing room. She stopped at her track when she heard him on the stage.

"Did you know every day 5,760 more children become orphans? Did you know 2,102,400 more children become orphans every year in Africa alone? Did you know every 15 seconds another child in Africa becomes an AIDS orphan?" Cato stopped his speech and looked at the crowd. It was pin-drop silence before he continued his speech.

"These statistics can go on and on. I just wanted to share few of the statistics as a reminder. A reminder for us to give and advocate. In a perfect world, there would be no need for adoption. Children would be raised by their loving biological parents. But the statistics illustrate that we clearly do not live in a perfect world," Cato cleared his throat before he continued his speech.

"These precious children need advocates. They need people who are willing to make a difference. We know that our time on this Earth is fleeting. If there's even one step we can take to save another child, I would like to take this opportunity to give ourselves a chance to volunteer at somewhere very near to our university which is Hope and Faith Orphanage. For those who feel that they would love to help but could not spare the time, there is a donation box in the admin office. Without further ado, I will start my performance. Thank you very much for your time."

The crowds applaud and Katniss could not help it but to give him a round of applause. She could not believe it in her eyes, a cold-hearted person like Cato could be so sensitive. Throughout Cato's performance, she was just thinking to herself, feeling confused on his behaviour.

"How could a wicked man like Cato who was once an abuser became passionate on giving kids a better place?," Katniss whispered to herself.

Suddenly Katniss felt a tap on her waist, "Miss pweety?"

Katniss turned around and she was surprised to see Rue in a pink dress which sent her a big smile, "Rue? What a pleasant surprise! And how do you know is me?"

"From your pweety voice," Rue smiled sheepishly.

Katniss hugged Rue tightly, and she looked at Rue, "What are you doing here?"

"Miss Mags brought me here. She told me that Cato was having a _fundwaiser_ for our home. I don't know what does_ fundwaiser_ mean but all I know from Miss Mags is…Cato will help us to pwotect our home."

Katniss was surprised again. But before she could feel anything further, Miss Mags appeared in front of Katniss, "Well hello dear Katniss. Are you here to join causes with Cato?"

Katniss shook her head, "Oh no, Miss Mags. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want to help, it's just that I didn't know he was doing all these. I was pretty surprised."

"Ah, speaking of which. It was pretty abrupt plan. Cato came by yesterday and he started to table out his idea on organizing a committee to volunteer to help the children in our home. He even asked me to give him the answer there and then because the dinner is on the next day which is tonight," Miss Mags smiled at Katniss while telling her what happened.

"Oh…that's very nice of him," Katniss' reply was reluctant but it was genuine.

Miss Mags reached out to Katniss' hand, "You have no idea how much both of you have helped us all. From the day we met, I know there are going to be some special connection within us. Cato is such a nice boy. He reminded me that these kids have the chance to be loved by others. His speech was moving. The way he talked about advocating these kids, it is really a wake up call for me to work even harder to ensure these kids will always have a home filled with love. And now with the future volunteers, the kids will be thrilled to feel more love from others."

Katniss looked at Miss Mags. Despite her trying not to believe what Miss Mags said about Cato, she could not help it but to share Miss Mags' happiness.

"Oh, Miss Mags, I will be performing later but don't tell Cato about it when he finishes his performance. It's supposed to be a secret that I'm performing later. I'm just pretty shy to be known while I'm performing," Katniss smiled at her.

Miss Mags nodded.

Katniss hugged Miss Mags and Rue before she left them. She went to the changing room and looked at the mirror. She started to think about her life. Her life after her father passed away. Her life where she needed to stand up and be a mother figure to Prim. Her life where she showered unconditional love to Prim and Uncle Haymitch.

Her thoughts were distracted when she heard a knock at the door.

"Katniss, the second performer is performing now. It's time for you to get ready," Miss Portia was signaling Katniss at the other side of the door.

"Okay, coming right up," Katniss answered her and she heard footsteps leaving the door.

She looked at herself one last time at the mirror, "You can do it, fire girl."

Every step she took made her feel more anxious and before she knew it, she was already behind the curtain. She approached the musicians and informed them that there would be an additional song that she would love to sing. Her request was pretty simple, hence there wasn't any much commotion before the performance started.

As the curtain slowly opened to reveal her to the crowd, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and imprinted a smile on her face.

* * *

It was already the end of second meal and the crowd was waiting for their main course. Peeta gave up asking Gale about Katniss' whereabouts and he had no choice but to ask Madge who had higher chance to know her whereabouts.

"Madge, where's Katniss? Is she alright?" Peeta whispered to Madge.

Madge felt a little uncomfortable because she was stuck in the situation where she needed to lie again. She was playing with her fingers while thinking of a perfect lie to answer Peeta.

"Madge?" Peeta tapped her shoulder to gain her attention.

Before Madge could answer, the crowd started to whistle and applaud. Curious on what the crowd was whistling to, Madge and Peeta turned to the stage.

It was a very beautiful female figure stood on the stage. She was wearing a white chiffon lace overlay gown with three-quarter sleeves. The stunning gown made the girl looked glamorous. The flowing chiffon was complemented by gorgeous lace top and sleeves, making it just revealing enough, but not too scandalous. The flower detailing created a smaller waist and bigger bust, flattering the girl's figure. Her dark brown hair had soft big curls which made her looked angelic on the stage. With her face covered in the black lace mask, it made her looked mysterious.

Almost every guy in the hall was mesmerized by that angelic figure. Even Peeta and Gale couldn't help it but to ogle the mysterious girl's stunning appearance. The three girls on the other hand knew exactly who she was but they were completely awed by her appearance too as she was just too gorgeous.

Cato who was watching from the backstage was also mesmerized with the image of the girl. His heart skipped a beat when he first watched her appeared on the stage.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I was supposed to sing only one song for my performance but I was moved by the speech made earlier on. This song is dedicated to the children around the world who are unfortunate, especially to the children from Hope and Faith to remind them that they will be safe …"

At the end of Katniss' introduction, the guitarist started to play the acoustic guitar for the opening of the song. She started to sing,

_I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said, "I'll never let you go"  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"  
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

Everyone in the hall fall silent and listened. Her voice was beautiful, high and clear and so filled with life. It made others wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.__

Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound

At this moment, Katniss was thinking about Prim. The time where Katniss hugged Prim at night as Prim would have nightmare. Since their father passed away and their mother was locked in some dark world of sadness, Prim would have nightmare on being all alone in the world. Nightmares would plague Katniss when she sleeps too. Both of them would find comfort in each other's arm whenever their nightmares haunted them.__

Don't you dare look out your window, darling,  
Everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on  
Hold on to this lullaby  
Even when the music's gone  
Gone

She remembered how she was being tortured by Cato. Every time she stepped out from her house, she felt unsafe. She felt as if she needed to go in a war with Cato. The only time she found comfort was being in her father's arms. Few tears rolled down from her eyes but the tears stopped beneath the mask.

_Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound_

Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
La La (La La)  
La La (La La)  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
La La (La La)

As she was singing the verses, Cato was able to recognise the melodious voice. Her singing brought the song so much of life and he felt a pinch in his heart, "Could it be the torture she thought she went through her childhood life which made the song felt surreal?"

_Just close your eyes  
You'll be alright  
Come morning light,  
You and I'll be safe and sound..._

Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh. [x7]

When she ended the song, the whole hall was roaring with cheers. Miss Mags and Rue asked Cato to bring them to the hall as they wanted to watch more of the performance clearly.

Few seconds later, the musicians started playing the next song. The electric guitar started playing in the background. Katniss had warm up in the stage already and felt more comfortable being on stage.

"Tonight I want you to stand up on your feet. I want you to feel the love tonight that crawling inside of you. It can be any form of love. As for me, it's a family love. Bring the beat in…" Katniss was graceful on the stage.

Thankfully her gown had room for her to make some simple dance moves. As Peeta was watching, he too realized that it was Katniss on the stage.

"Silly me. I should have realized earlier. Who could have caught my breath so long if it's not Katniss Everdeen," Peeta thought to himself and blushed a little.

He started to dance even harder to the song as he wanted to enjoy the moment of Katniss' singing. Gale and the rest of the girls were pretty surprised with his sudden change but they started to dance along.

She ended the song with, "Finally you put my love on top."

The lights on the stage were off right after the end of the song. The crowd went mad and asked for encore. Even the emcees were having a hard time to calm the crowd down.

Katniss headed straight to the changing room and she could still hear the crowd was still cheering for her. When she reached the changing room, she saw there were plates of food on the dressing table. There was a note left by Miss Portia.

"Enjoy your late dinner. Thanks for performing."

Without hesitation, Katniss dunked herself into the food and she managed to finish them all in less than ten minutes. She let out a loud burp and felt satisfied with the whole evening. Her performance went well, probably more people would join the cause of helping the orphans, and her interview with Pearson Hardman.

After finishing her late dinner, Katniss did not want to enter the hall. She was afraid that people may recognise her and start interrogating her on who she might be. She sent a text to Madge to inform her that she would change and meet up with the rest after the dinner ended.

Katniss took a stroll in the park before changing her gown. She took off the mask from her face as she felt uncomfortable wearing it. The moonlight shone upon the lake by the park and it Katniss looked as if she was glowing in the dark. She found a perfect ground to sit on and started to sing the valley song. The words of the song were easy and soothing. It was a lullaby sang by her father. Everything was still and quiet. But for a moment, she heard a rustling sound by the bush and she jolted up.

"Who's there?"

There was no answer. She looked around and saw there was a wood lying on the ground. She picked the wood and started asking again, "Who's there?"

Again, she heard a rustling sound, and it was behind her. She turned around and asked even fiercer, "I warn you, you better show yourself now."

She saw a shadow was approaching her direction. As she couldn't get a glimpse on the face of the shadow, she moved back a little. It was when the moonlight shone across the person's face, and it was Cato.

Katniss sighed and let her guard down a little. But when Cato approached nearer, she started to feel uptight again and held the wood towards his direction.

"Easy there, girl," Cato lifted both of his hands to show that he meant no harm to her.

Katniss' eyes squint to take a clearer look at him. When she was satisfied, she lowered her wood and asked him a serious tone, "What are you doing here, Ludwig?"

"It's a public place. I don't see any sign which shows Katniss Everdeen's property," Cato folded his arms and looked at the lake.

Katniss was annoyed with his presence and decided she should leave the park. She turned away from Cato's direction and started to walk to her room to change as she planned earlier on.

After a few steps, she felt someone was holding her arm, refraining her from walking away, "Katniss, I'm sorry…"

Those words made Katniss' heart ache. She moved her arm away and did not look back.

"I know, I know you are mad at me because you think I torture your life when you're young…" Cato followed her from behind while saying that sentence.

Katniss stopped at her track as she did not believe what she had heard. She turned around to look at Cato, "What do you mean that I think you torture my life? The fact is you did torture my life!"

Cato was taken aback with her statement and saw her continued walking away from him. He shook his head and started to explain further, "Look Katniss, before you walk away, please hear me out."

By that time, Katniss' eyes were filled with tears. She was trying not to allow her tears from dripping down on her face. She did not move further, she just stood still with her back facing Cato.

"Katniss, remember the time when we crossed path in our school hallway when we were 6? That's the first time I noticed you. Ever since our short encounter, I was trying so hard to get to know your name…"

Katniss interrupted, "And then what? To make me a punching bag?"

Cato felt a pain in his chest, "No, I genuinely wanted to get to know you. But things changed when my friends started to make fun of me for having a crush on you because you were poor. I was immature at that time and wanted to stop all the teases. So I stopped talking about you in front of them but they were not satisfied with it. They wanted me to prove to them by doing all those stuff to you…"

He paused a moment and cleared his throat, "I did not agree to it initially…"

"Initially?" Katniss smirked with sarcasm.

"Yes…until I saw someone else has eyes on you. I was young and immature, I felt angry that someone was looking at you. And you did not notice me at all since our first encounter. I knew at that time the only way to get nearer to you was by doing all those nonsense."

Katniss couldn't hold herself any longer, she turned to Cato and punched him in the face, "What a bull! Are you expecting me to be understanding and give you a pat on your shoulder and said it's okay? It's surely not okay for me. Do you know how much your actions caused me so much pain in my life?"

Cato fall on the ground and was rubbing his left cheek, "No, Katniss. I wasn't expecting that. But do you know ever since I started doing that, the bread boy started to protect you behind your back? He started picking up fights with me whom angered me even further. Both of us were always visiting the principal's office."

"Bread boy? What bread boy?" Katniss asked with much curiosity.

"Yes, the Mellark. Peeta Mellark…you can ask him if you don't believe me," Cato's icy blue eyes were looking at Katniss.

"That's not important. So what is it gotta do with you torturing my life?" Katniss asked further.

Cato sighed, "I wasn't raised in a loving family. Every night my dad will be home pissed drunk and start hitting my family. My mom wasn't being any help to me, she will curse me. There was once I was sent to the psychiatrist because I developed a complex behaviour They said I had some dual personality. You see Katniss, I had a crush on you ever since I bumped into you. On the other hand, I had this vicious side of me of not letting any guys near you or even look at you. It angered me for some reason and I started to find comfort when I tortured you. I know it was sickening. Every time I tortured you, I would run to my room and started crying. Thinking how horrible I was and how you would hate me forever."

Katniss' heart started to melt a little but she did not utter any word.

"But the turning point of my life was the day you left Texas for good. I was completely lost. I started to blame myself for being such a jerk to you. At that point, I wasn't talking to anyone. I went into depression. What more could a 9 years old boy do? Take his life? On that faithful morning when I decided to take my own life on the same night, I saw something. It was the bread boy. He talked to your friend, asking bout your whereabouts. He ran off when she told him you're in New York. That's when I knew you were in New York too. It gave me an enlightenment to set a new direction in my life. I was determined to find you…" Cato stopped at his words and took a deep breath as he felt his heart was pounding really fast.

"To find me and remind me of my past?" Katniss walked in closer to Cato.

Cato shook his head again, "No, to tell you I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry."

"How you'd find me?" Katniss asked.

"Like how bread boy found you. Through bulletins in the internet. Throughout my schooling days, we would search for your name. It's not that we did it together. Sometimes when I saw him surfing the net from the computer in the school library, I would just walked back and forth, pretending to search for books. I think he did the same when I was fishing out some information about you," Cato explained.

Katniss looked uneasy, "Sounds like a stalker to me…"

Cato felt her uneasiness, "Look Katniss, I came all the way here and let go off my scholarship in one of the top university in Chicago where I totally have no clue why I did so just to say I'm sorry."

Katniss was shocked to hear that but she regain her momentum, "So what now? I should feel guilty now? You want to make me feel that now I owe you?"

Cato's eyes started to tear which it was a rarest sight for Katniss to see. Throughout her life, Cato always portrayed himself as someone mean and strong. There was nothing he feared of. But to see there were tear drops from his eyes, Katniss was confused.

"I don't get it, why are you crying?" Katniss asked in disbelief.

Cato's heart was aching and his voice started breaking, "I came here without expecting you to forgive me. I know I don't deserve any forgiveness. But I couldn't help it but to hope that you will accept my apologies. You know after that confrontation we had two nights ago, I started to ponder on how I should redeem myself from the sins I have done onto you. As a result, I found myself going to the orphanage and suggested to Miss Mags that it's time for me to start giving to the unfortunate children."

Katniss felt moved by his action. She did not say anything but it seemed like she was giving a hard thought. She let out a loud sigh and she said softly, "I will try to forgive you…"

Cato's eyes were glistening. His blue eyes looked like crystal under the moonlight. He looked at Katniss, standing in front of him and she looked like an angel. The empire white dress looked majestic on her. The sight of her caught his breath away but he managed to get the words out, "Thank you Katniss, you have no idea how much it means to me."

He paused for a moment.

"I know it's not an appropriate timing but you looked beautiful," Cato looked nervous after complimenting her.

Somehow Katniss felt relief. Not because of his compliment. But because she felt that her nightmares finally came to an end. She smiled, "Thank you, Cato. This is not for the compliment but it's for your apologies. I think I can sleep in peace…at last."

With that, Katniss left Cato in the park. Cato did not give it a chase but this time he knew things were going to be better. He smiled widely when he heard Katniss could sleep peacefully.

Katniss took her phone and texted Madge to inform her that she was too tired to meet them and wanted to crash in her room. When she reached her home, she took a nice hot shower and changed to her shorts and tank top. This time she did not switch on her iPod. Instead she hummed some random melody and she drifted into a deep slumber.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi there. It's been a while and I have been a bad writer lately. I am pretty caught up with my life and totally forgotten about this story until I have been reminded with countless PMs to update. Thank you very much for reminding me. And for those who have reviewed, favourite and followed my story, thank you for your support. I hope you guys and girls enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 11

**Katniss' POV**

It's been over two weeks since the alumni dinner. Here I am, preparing myself for the big interview with Pearson Hardman. It is 7o'clock in the morning, and I am wide awake despite my interview is 11o'clock in the morning. It is not that I am nervous or anything, in fact I am pretty confident that I can get this internship. Since it is still early, a run at the park will be a good idea. Before heading out, I stop at my track as I can almost hear Johanna's snore from the door. I can't help by laughing at her.

As usual, I choose few songs from my iPod before I start jogging. It is like a ritual to me to listen to music while running and taking a stroll at the park. As I am running, my mind begins to wonder. The thoughts of becoming Pearson Hardman's legal intern; sitting in my cubicle; working on cases and whatnot. I can't help it but to smile at myself for daydreaming at such early hour.

After an hour run, I decide to stop jogging and start to warm down. As I am stretching my legs, I start to realize I am at the same spot where Cato apologized to me on that faithful night. The night when I told him I would try to forgive him. I am not too sure whether have I forgive him? Truth is, I have never really spoken to him since then. The only encounter with him was our presentation two days after the dinner. He did try to approach me after the presentation but I gave him a cold shoulder. Thankfully, he got the hint that I still needed space. I am not sure whether I have forgive him or not, but one thing I know for sure that I have found peace. Peace which I have yearned for a very long time.

By the time I am done, it was already almost nine. I jump into the shower and change to a black skater dress and pair it with a brown clincher. By the time I am done, Johanna is up.

"Are you ready for your big day?" Johanna asked.

I look at myself in the mirror to check everything is in place, my dress, my clincher, my Alexa bag and my black pumps. I look at her and gave her a smile, "Well I guess I am?"

"That does not sound convincing," Johanna folds her arms and leans against the wall.

Before I could answer, Johanna continues while looking at her nails, "By the way, Miss Undersee is on her way here. Apparently, she wants to be your fashion police."

I look at my watch and it is half past nine which is still early for me, "Okay, I will wait for her, but I need to leave by ten and before that I will need to grab coffee and …"

"Miss Everdeen!" Madge hugs me from behind to surprise me.

She turns me around to face her and scans through me. I giggle and playfully striking some top model poses which I know I fail miserably. Madge flashes her phone and snaps a picture of me. Then she shows her phone to me, "Do you notice anything wrong with this picture?"

"Erm, my face looks surprised and that's because you took that picture of me off guard."

Madge shakes her head vigorously, "Wrong answer my dear, you look so pale. You need to add some colour on your face."

I know exactly what she wants me to do, and it is time for me to shake my head vigorously, "No! Absolutely no! I am not putting any make up on!"

"Look, Katniss. You are getting the concept wrong about make up. Sometimes, a simple touch up will do wonder. Like just apply fine line of eye liner and a pink lip gloss. If you trust me, please allow me to do some touch up on your face."

I hate to admit it but actually what she said was not wrong. I look like a little pale in the picture. I hate putting on any make up on my face as I feel very uncomfortable, but I know this little sacrifice will probably earn me extra points to get that internship. I reluctantly agree and Madge does not waste any time on me. Within a minute, she is done.

"Walaa, a finished product," Madge takes a mirror for me.

To my surprise, I am actually happy to see myself. She is actually right. A little touch up can do a wonder to someone.

"Thanks Madge, I am very impressed! I would love to hang around a little longer but I think it's time for me to go. I do not wish to be late for my interview."

Madge hugs me, "All the best, girl!"

Johanna on the hand just pats me on my shoulder, "Don't choke on your own saliva!"

"Thanks girls. Love you!" I wave at them and head straight to the café before going to Pearson Hardman.

I reach the café and am greeted by an enthusiastic baristas, "Morning Ma'am. You look lovely today. Anything I can get for you?"

I order my usual black coffee and while waiting for my coffee to be ready, I am just looking outside the window and start to daydream again.

In the background, I could hear someone saying, "Ma'am, your coffee, Ma'am, Ma'am"

I jump when someone touch my shoulder. I quickly turn around to see what is it about and the first thing which captivates my eyes is a pair of icy blue eyes. When I zoom out my focus, I realize it belongs to Cato.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare…" Cato stops his words.

"Wow, you look stunning…" he continues.

I do not expect his presence let alone his compliment, without giving much thoughts and I regret almost instantaneously right after I utter my next sentence, "Yeah, I'm going for an interview in Pearson Hardman."

"That's great to hear! You will nail it without breaking a sweat," Cato smiles widely.

I feel a little uneasy with the sudden friendliness, and I start to be cold towards him, "K.."

He looks a little taken aback, but he still continues talking to me, "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. It's just that your coffee is ready but you did not respond to the baristas earlier on."

I grab the coffee from his hand before he stretches his arm to pass it to me and I just leave him in the café without saying anything else. I hail a cab as I step off the curb and I am off to my dream internship job. On my way to the interview, my mind automatically wonders on Cato. I feel a little awful about my behaviour towards him. He is just being nice but all I did is being an ass to him.

"He deserves it," I whisper to myself.

* * *

**Cato's POV**

It's been two long weeks and Katniss is still giving me the cold treatment. I understand she needs space, but it is killing me for some weird reason. I know I should feel relief that she said she would try to forgive me, but I have no idea why I feel something is not complete.

It's almost ten in the morning. I am starting to get sick of the food in the campus, so I decide to walk over to the café nearby the campus. The café where I had my first discussion with Katniss. The image of her hair being let loose is still clear in my mind and she sure looked gorgeous.

When I reach the café, I am looking at the menu displayed on the top of the counter as I am still indecisive but my concentration on the menu is taken away when I hear the baristas is calling some customer to get the drink. I look around and see a familiar feminine figure is standing by the window.

I look harder and even though the figure was standing sideways, I can almost recognise it is Katniss. Boy oh boy, I am lucky to actually be in the same place as her. I tell the baristas that I will take care of the matter and grab the coffee from his hand.

I tap her shoulder lightly with the hope to gain her attention and her body language seems shocked because of the body contact. So I brace myself to apologise to her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare…"

When she turns around to face me, I am blown away with her beauty. Her grey eyes are the first to mesmerise me. She is not dress in her common casual clothing. She looks gorgeous in the dress and not to mention, she smells so good. My heart skips a beat; no I think more than a beat. She is staring at me and I know it is my cue to break the silence,

"Wow, you look stunning…" that's all I can say to her.

I am actually expecting her to reply me in short, but what comes out from her mouth surprises me, "Yeah, I'm going for an interview in Pearson Hardman."

I feel ecstatic. She is actually talking to me. I can actually feel fireworks in my heart. I can't control my happiness and I am literally smiling from ear to ear, "That's great to hear! You will nail it without breaking a sweat."

Within a split second, she breaks my bubble by replying me, "K.."

Nooooooooo, how can she do that to me? I feel as if like I am a five years old kid when the candy is taken away from me. But oh well, at least she accidentally exposed one tiny bit of her wall and I know what she is doing now. I look at my hand and I am still holding her coffee, "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. It's just that your coffee is ready but you did not respond to the baristas earlier on."

She practically grabs the coffee from my hand before I have the chance to go closer to her and leave me here without saying any word. Not even a simple thank you. As she walks further away from me, I find myself checking her out. Her curves are just nice in every inch of her body. She will definitely nab ton of guys' heart in her future firm. Without realising, I am actually clenching my fist so tight just thinking about it.

* * *

**Katniss' POV**

I am making my way out from Pearson Hardman's building.

My interview went pretty well. I was interviewed by this senior partner named Gloss Ritchson. He is the youngest senior partner in the firm and he is a very fine looking guy. He had so much of charisma and made the interview felt like a conversation. I felt comfortable during the whole process. When the "conversation" ended, I was expecting he would say something like I will give you a call later or something along the line, but to my surprise, he offered me the internship position. He also mentioned that if I performed well in my studies and at work, he would consider securing a permanent spot for me in the firm as Associate.

I will be starting my internship in a week time and I can't wait to tell so many people about it, Prim, Uncle Haymitch, Gale, Madge, Johanna. I call Prim first and she is happy for me. She even makes me to promise her to get her dream dress using my first pay-check Uncle Haymitch who is also with Prim, congratulate me and say how proud he is.

As for my three friends, I will break the news to them when I see them later. I hail a cab and head straight to my campus. Traffic is horrendous and it takes almost 2 hours to reach my campus. It is almost 3 when I reach the campus. My stomach is growling as I only had coffee in the morning. Not to mention, I feel a little light-headed due to caffeine-effect. It is really not a good idea to have coffee with an empty stomach. I head to the cafeteria to see if there is anything left for me.

When I reach the cafeteria, I hear someone yelling my name. I look around and notice Gale and some bunch of other people which I can't seem to recognise because they are sitting at the end of the cafeteria. The only reason I am able to recognise Gale because of his tall physique. I give him a signal indicating I will get some food before joining him and the rest.

"Oh c'mon Cat. There are excess of food which I save them for you," he yells.

I smile to myself and walk towards his direction. Gale has always been my telepathic friend. He seems to do the right thing at right time. As I am walking nearer to him, I realize Madge and Johanna are there too. I pace myself even faster as I can't wait to break the good news to them.

Madge is practically jumping on her seat and I can see Johanna looks pretty excited too but as usual, she tries to keep herself compose.

"So?" Madge holds my hand.

I put on a straight face, "So? I don't get what you mean."

Johanna says in a pretentious bored voice, "How's the interview?"

I look down to show that I am "devastated", "Don't ask…"

Suddenly, I feel a smack at my head and it is Gale, "Will you stop acting? You can't lie for God-sake."

I cough out air because of the impact, "Ouch, that hurts, you know?"

"I guess if you are acting now, the interview went well?" Madge giggles at the side.

I shake my head, and this time I hear Peeta's voice from behind.

"What has gone well?" Peeta joins in the table and sits beside me.

I look at him and he smiles broadly. His warm blue eyes never fail to send a warm sensation in my heart. He always looks optimistic with things but sometimes too optimistic. I am more of a sceptical person. But his smile always reminds me there is still goodness in this world.

"Her interview!" Madge answers him.

Peeta looks surprised and curious at the same time. He leans in closer, "So…how's it?"

This time, Gale stands up from his seat and he is coming to my direction. At this point of time, I know this does not look good. He effortlessly carries me in a bridal style.

"Hey, let go off me," I tell him off and try to escape from him but he is just too strong for me. He locks me at the right place where I can't fight it off. Damn him.

"So, are you spilling the answer or what?" Gale playfully threatens me.

I stare at him, "Make me!"

He heads out from the cafeteria and is walking to the lake. I can see his evil grin.

"You know, if there is one word to describe your look, it is devilish," I tell him off.

He looks at me and laughs sarcastically, "Have you heard a saying, pot calling a kettle black!"

I know he is referring to me because I refuse to tell him and the rest the answer. He stops his tracks when he reaches the lake.

"So, are you going to spill it out or what?"

"Spill what?" I act dumb.

"Well, if you're not then I will…" Gale's voice starting to faint.

I look at him, shooting daggers at him, "You will…?"

I can hear the girls are laughing and Peeta is telling Gale to stop. Within a split second, I can feel my body swings from the back and I am up in the air and that's when my mind goes blank. My senses are numb. Water starts gushing into my nose. I think I am in control as I know how to swim but I am terribly wrong. Fear is starting to strike me. My mind is racing because I know something is wrong but I can't exactly point a finger at it. I feel piercing cold but the feeling is fleeting because my senses and horror is multiplied with what I see. In fact, I can't see much, the images captures in my eyes are just greenish. That's when I realize I am still under water.

I open my mouth to scream, but the cold water flows in, choking me. The panic feeling multiplies. I can't remember how long I struggle. One second feels like a decade ambles by. I try to beat my hands and legs in all directions but I feel cramps at my legs and my light-headiness isn't helping at all. I am still suspended in water and the only thing I can touch is water. I shake my head frantically, trying to see anything which can help me to escape from this fear, but all I see is the ominous colour.

I try to breathe again through my nose but only to be reaffirmed with the water breaking and entering my lungs. I can feel the cold water in my lungs and it is filling me up. I can hear voices but at this point of time, I really do not care anymore. I just close my eyes, thinking this is just a horrible nightmare. I feel my lungs start aching. It feels like my chest is going to burst because the air in it wants to come out so bad but I don't want to let it go. It is the only air I have left.

I can see images flickering in the darkness. I see everyone is smiling at me, my late father, Prim, Uncle Haymitch, Gale and oddly enough, Cato. Cato's images are the longest which I can't decipher why I am seeing him, but screw logic. I feel sad that I will not be seeing all of them. I try to breathe again but only to be rudely reminded with more water flowing in. The water in my stomach rushes out. I puke in the water and taste the puke as it comes out. I feel disgusted. I close my eyes and shake my head to shake off the puke around me. I realize I stop fighting with the water and accept that this it it. Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire is going to die because of water. And soon, my mind is drifting off.

* * *

**Peeta's POV**

"Gale, stop it. Put her down," I feel anxious with Gale's action. God knows what he is going to do with her.

"You bet I will," Gale looks at me and gives me a smirk.

He swings her and throws her into the lake. My heart sinks and I run after her but he holds me back.

"Chill dude. It's Katniss. She can swim like a fish but of course I am the better fish," Gale exclaims.

I ignore his reasoning and try to go after her but he manages to pin me down.

"Peeta, we did this so many times and everytime she will come out of it even more alive," Gale laughs hysterically.

I just look at the lake, hoping what he just said is entirely true but I am wrong. After few seconds in the water, I have yet to see her head resurface.

"No, Gale. She is still not floating yet," I point to the lake.

"She is probably playing with us. Trying to scare the shit out of me. But I am not buying that bait," Gale continues to laugh.

He yells, "C'mon Katniss, I shall see how long your lungs can take you to drag this drama!"

I can hear Madge's voice is starting to panic, "Gale, I think we should check on her, there was a struggle before that, and now the water is still."

Gale looks at the lake and he starts to loosen his grip on me. I find the right opportunity and escape from him. Before I jump into the water, I see another figure runs pass me and does what I intend to do. The last thing I see is he dunks his head underwater and he shouts for Katniss.

* * *

**Cato's POV**

I am lying on the spot where Katniss forgave me that night. I am listening to Incubus from my iPhone. As I am enjoying the music, my hand accidentally touches on my screen and it plays some foreign song. When I say foreign song it means song which I never hear before but for some weird reason, it is in my random playlist. It is some sappy song but I find the singer's voice is pretty good. For once, I decide to just stick with this song until it finishes and I will switch to Incubus back. I look at my phone, and it's LeAnn Rimes – How Do I Live Without You.

Because the song is slow, I can hear my surroundings even though I blast the volume to the maximum. I hear some familiar voices are laughing and shouting. When I look around to see what it is, I see Gale and the rest of his friends. I also notice Peeta and I squirm a little. I can hear someone else's voice and without a second, I know it belongs to Katniss. But I can't see her around until Gale swings and throws someone from his hands.

I see Katniss is literally flying up in the air and canon ball into the water. I have no idea, but I can't feel my heart when her body meets the water. I see some struggle in the water and within the next 10 seconds or so, it stops. LeAnn Rimes' voice is still cringing in my ears as the song is still playing. That's when I feel a pang in my heart.

Something is wrong. This is a bad joke.

I toss my phone away and took of my shirt. I run as fast as I can towards her direction. I run pass Peeta and take a leap into the lake. I can't control my emotions, and I shout for her name, "Katniss!"

The lake is rather polluted and it is hard for me to catch a sight of her. There's no sign of movement around me and I start to panic. A lot of negative emotions come into play. What if Katniss get hyperthermia from this? What if Katniss hits into coma from this? What if Katniss suffers brain damage from this? What if…Katniss dies? The last thought makes me tear but I can't feel the warmth of my tears as I am in the cold piercing lake water.

I realize by feeling anxious, I won't be able to find her. I swim to the top to get some air and dunk my head into the water again, hoping to find Katniss alive. I go deeper into the water and I see hair splaying and I feel a little relief. At least my first worry is solved, which is finding Katniss. I grab Katniss around her waist and hug her to me. I use all my strength and might to bring us out from the lake. I can't waste any second because she has swallowed so much water.

Her body is lifeless, there is no sign of life in her. I kick my feet even harder to bring us to the surface. I see one figure is approaching me in the lake, and it's Peeta. As much as I do not want his help, but I know Katniss need to be out from the lake as soon as possible. So another help will speed up the process. Before I know it, I can see the light and I feel myself approaching the edge of the lake. I carry her and place her flat on the ground. Peeta follows me from behind.

My attention is all on Katniss. The sight of her terrifies me. Her lips and face turn blue. It seems the fire around her has dimmed which breaks my heart. I put my ear close to her nose and mouth to listen for any slight breathing.

There's none.

Without thinking much, I place my hands on her breastbone. I press down with both hands over her breastbone to perform a compression. I tilt her head back to open the airway.

There are no signs of life.

I begin to tear again. I resort in giving her rescue breaths. I pinch her nose close and seal my mouth over hers and breathe out slowly for about one second. I look over to her chest but it did not rise. I give a second rescue breath.

But still no reaction.

I start to panic and my tears start to spill uncontrollably.

"Katniss, please. This is not funny anymore. Wake up…please" I am literally sobbing and choking in my own words while looking at her lifeless body.

I attempt another chest compression. Hoping to bring her to life, "Katniss, don't do this to me. There're so many things that I need to tell you…"

I compress her chest so many times to remove the water from her lungs. I can't think straight anymore and I am losing sight of her because of my tears. The thoughts of not having Katniss alive in this world, stings my heart. That's when I realise a very strange feeling in my heart. I know before this I mentioned to her that I had a crush on her when I was younger. But right now, seeing Katniss' lifeless body in front of me, I just can't control my emotions anymore. The feeling of losing her is just too much for me to bear and the next sentence utters from the bottom of my heart,

"I love you, Katniss…"


End file.
